The Fourth 'God'
by RogueMoon
Summary: 5 Millenia ago, a Pharaoh gave half his soul to seal away a great evil, now that evil is trying to escape. A Yu-Gi-Oh! X-Men:Evolution crossover. Revisions under way. Chapter 15 up
1. Prologue and Disclaimer

**The Fourth God**

Written by RogueMoon

Explanation/Disclaimer/Prologue

*****000*****

Explanation:

This is a project I started a very, very long time ago in an attempt to find a good crossover. There are a lot of crossover fictions out there in cyberspace. Most range from so-so to gawd-awful. Buried in these attempts are a few true gems that one must sift through to find.

I am _not_ saying that the poorly written ones should not be read or even put out there. I think it's great that so many people want to create and I fully encourage every single Author on and everywhere else in the world to put what they've written out there. To the people who flame fics based on grammar or spelling errors or whatever else there is to insult: How else are people to learn?

To create something truly wonderful, you have to have a few bad starts. If only to learn what works. What others find enjoyable and what the author finds enjoyable. The Powers-That-Be know I certainly have my share of badly written work. Most of which never see the light of day, or any light past that of my computer screen.

But that's not to say I particularly enjoy going through the first attempts every time I want to find something new to read. It gets tedious to sift through the grit and grime to find the diamond.

Which brings us to why I decided to write this fic. I simply got tired of digging. I wanted a fic that I would enjoy reading. So I created one.

And I _do_ read this. And re-read this. Over and over again every time I work on a new paragraph, a new sentence. Why? To make sure it evolves properly. To keep it realistic in that everything makes sense in both the "Mutant" reality and "Duelist" reality. To make sure I don't turn this into some clichéd Mary-Sue fic. To make sure every character is "In Character".

And sometimes, when I get bored and am too lazy or too tired to write, I re-read this…

For fun.

Crazy, huh?

And I'm not trying to toot my own horn about being some spectacular author. I'm not. As my other fics will attest, I'm not all that great. I'm not bad, necessarily, but I'm not some spectacular author.

But I am proud of this fic and will tell anyone who asks. I have had a lot of fun writing this and will most likely continue to have fun writing it. Even if I lose readers.

I did not start this for the enjoyment of others. I started this for my own enjoyment. I put it out for others to read so I could get some constructive criticism.

The fact that other people seem to like it is just icing on the cake that I get to puff up my feathers and preen about.

*****000*****

I will be using the Japanese names for all Yu-Gi-Oh! Characters.

**WHEN I KNOW THEM.**

This means: I will be mixing a lot of the Japanese names with the American Cartoon names.

*****000*****

Disclaimer:

I do not own any of the characters from either X-Men: Evolution or Yu-Gi-Oh!. I do not own any of the settings from X-Men: Evolution or Yu-Gi-Oh!. I only own my own imagination.

*****000*****

Prologue or What Has Come Before:

_In Domino, Japan_ - Battle City is over. Yugi Motou and his friends have defeated the evil half of Malik and the Secrets of the God Cards have been revealed.

Anzu Mazaki has begun dating Seto Kaiba, at first the result of a bet she had lost to Jonuochi and Honda, and then later after they found themselves actually enjoying each others company.

It has been two years since Yugi first solved the Millennium Puzzle.

_In Bayville, New York_ – The X-Men are on probationary status at school after the Senate hearing that followed the Sentinel attack. It is not yet known what Mesmero has been trying to unlock with the two keys he has stolen.

The brotherhood are under probationary status with Magneto's acolytes as well. Wanda has left them to find her own way in the world and Mystique hasn't been heard from in several months. Tabitha has gone back to the X-Men for lack of any other place to go to and is still railing again the rules.

The events of Rogue helping to awaken Apocalypse have not yet happened, nor have the events of Cajun Spice. (sadly)


	2. Chapter 1

**The Fourth "God"**

A Yu-Gi-Oh!/X-Men: Evolution crossover fic.

Written by Rogue Moon

"_The history of the Games were said to have started some five thousand years ago in Ancient Egypt._

_In those days, the Games were played to predict the future Pharaoh, and to decide his -and others'- fate._

_Those black magic-like rituals were called 'Shadow Games.'_

_And now the Millennium Puzzle has a young man to play the Shadow Games._

_Light and Darkness._

_A boy with two minds._

_He is the Game King._

_The Millennium Puzzle is activated…_

_And the Shadow Games have begun!"_

*****000*****

Chapter One

"Oh, come on! Like I'm really going to believe that, Kurt! Get real!" Kitty Pryde, hopeless romantic and genius high school student by day, 'Shadowcat' of the X-men by night or whenever, pushed the fuzzy by nature boy away from herself. She had been happily channel surfing in the living room of the Xavier Institute, when the blue, furry elf had _bamfed_ in next to her and proceeded to read to her an article about myths of ancient Egypt.

Kitty grabbed at the magazine, "Here, give me that! Letsee… Kurt! This was written, like, seventy years ago! And all of it is based on speculations of what certain hieroglyphics _might_ have meant. Emphasis on the 'might.' Now if you don't have any real information to share with me about the research into what Mesmero is trying to do in Egypt, then leave me to channel surf in peace!" She tossed the magazine behind her and settled down to enjoy her view of the surfing contest currently going on in Honolulu.

Kurt quickly retrieved his magazine, "but Kitty! What if it's true? At least in part? It might explain some things. And…Kitty! Please just listen!"

"Listen to what?" Scott Summers, field leader of the X-men, asked as he strolled into the room.

"To what this article says about some myths of Egypt surrounding something called the 'Sennen Set.' I think it might give us some clues as to what Mesmero is trying to 'unlock' with all the keys he's been collecting."

Scott thought for a moment, shrugged and sat down on the couch, "Read away."

Kitty let out an exasperated sigh, "Couldn't this, like, wait? I'm trying to get in some quality babe watching time here! Oh, never mind, it went to commercial. Might as well go ahead."

Kurt smiled triumphantly, "The article says that in ancient Egypt there existed an evil force so powerful, that only a great Pharaoh with mastery over the 'Three Gods of Shadow' and 'The Shadow Games' was able to seal it away. And only at the cost of something greater than his life. The result was the formation of many sets of treasures. (I believe the spider stone is one of them.) But the most prominent and famous is that of the 'Sennen Set.' Seven items within which was sealed the power of the great Pharaoh. Each set of treasure was created and then separated to ensure that the evil force could never again be resurrected and- "

"Okay, Kurt, shut up. Shows back on."

Kurt rolled his eyes at Kitty, grabbed Scott and _bamfed _them into the kitchen. "Anyway, as I was saying… The Sennen Set consisted of seven items. Only one of which was ever recovered _within_ the tomb of the Pharaoh. It was found by a British Archaeologist team. A box filled with its pieces. The Millennium Puzzle. After it was removed, all the members of the team died under mysterious circumstances. And the last one said with his dying breath, 'The Shadow Games.' And that's not all! The box with the puzzle pieces had an inscription that read 'The one who solves me shall gain the knowledge of Darkness. The one who solves me shall inherit the Shadow Games. He will become the Guardian of right and pass judgment on evil.' Also, it's thought that if someone posses even one of the items, they will have the power to shape they world as they like. …Pretty spooky, huh?"

Scott grinned, listening to Kurt get worked up over old myths was just as much fun as watching the cheerleaders practice in short skirts. Okay, not quite as fun, but close. "Sounds interesting all right. But the article mentions seven pieces to this set. What does it say about them?"

Kurt sighed and hung his head, his tail going slightly limp behind him, "That's just it, Scott. While I _know_ this set has something to do with Mesmero, I haven't been able to find anything on the other six items, outside of them being mentioned in this article. And in here there is only speculation on what they _might_ be. Possibly a 'Key,' a 'Ring,' and some sort of 'Eye' are the only ones even mentioned other than the Puzzle. What the last three are, no one outside of the Pharaoh, and his guardian family know. Who his guardian family is, there is no mention."

Scott rested his chin in his hand and screwed up his face in thought, "What you've found so far, I think has merit. If there's another 'Key' out there that Mesmero wants to use to unlock whatever it is he's been trying to unlock, I think we should definitely look into it. Even if it ends up being nothing, at least we've covered it. Have you talked to the Professor?"

"Not yet. I… didn't want to go alone. I… didn't want him to laugh at me."

"Kurt… He wouldn't do that. And besides, you put some effort into this, I'm sure he'd have the same reaction as me…"

"You really think so?"

"Yeah. Come on! We can go talk to him now."

"Alright… if you say so."

*****000*****

"Get your hands off the remote! Hey! I was watching that!"

Spike leaned back on the couch, "Too bad. I claimed this time slot three weeks ago just so I could watch the Duel Monster tournament. It's the first time Kaiba is allowing his new Duel Disc to be publicly shown. And only for the final match. And besides, it's rumored that the new World Champion will be there."

"I thought last years world tournament was aired publicly. Wasn't he on then?"

"No. He beat the former World Champ in a private match. He then went on to beat the very creator of the game in the Duelist Kingdom tournament. And after that he won again at the Battle City Tournament hosted by Seto Kaiba, the inventor of the Duel Disc system, which is being used for the first time in public during today's tournament. This will be the first time the current World Champ has ever been seen outside of a tournament. The only thing released about him before this has been his name."

Kitty rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, muttering to herself, "At least I'll get to drool over Kaiba, he'll probably be at this thing if his technology is."

"Shh! It' starting!"

Kitty didn't want to admit it, but she had been following Duel Monsters in secret and was extremely curious to see what the World Champion looked like. Some Japanese boy name Yugi Motou. ~I hope he's hot.~ That, and she really wanted to see what kind of technology Kaiba Corp. had been able to think up that could possibly make the game any more interesting than it already was.

The screen fuzzed for a moment as the feed went to a pre-recorded shot of Domino City Square, where the tournament was being hosted this year.

"Welcome to the Tenth Annual Duel Monsters World Tournament! Unfortunately Game fans, the rumors that the Champion of Duelist Kingdom would be competing today are false. Sorry for disappointing you all, but it seems the Duel Monsters Game King is a bit shy. He even insisted that we hide his face during the exclusive interview we had just a few minutes ago. That's right folks, although he won't be participating in this tournament, he will be watching and cheering on his friends and rivals! And now, our exclusive interview just for the game fans state side. Here he is! Yugi Motou!"

The camera panned to the right, revealing a boy whose face was mosaicked out, but still looked no older than thirteen, mostly because of how short he was. His dark red, almost black hair was spiked up, probably using three pounds of gel. Around his neck was a thick black dog collar. His shirt was a half-zip, black tank with a high collar, and around his left upper-arm were two more 'dog-collars.' He wore two belts at his waist, one to hold his dark, dark blue shiny leather pants on, and one more for fashion that hung loosely on his thin hips. He wore knee high black leather army boots and on his wrists were more mini-belts and gold bracelets. A few simple gold rings gave a final touch to complete his look.

Kitty stared in fascination, "_That_ is the World Champion of one of the hardest mental games on the planet? He looks like a punk!"

The interviewer waved to someone behind the camera and a nondescript Japanese man of around thirty stepped into view. "Mr. Takahashi will be the interpreter for our interview.

"Yugi, how about we start off small? Could you tell us your age?"

"15, almost 16."

"15? Really? No offense, but you don't look it."

"I'm short."

"Ha ha, that you are… anyway, our viewers are wondering what kind of deck you use. Rumor has it you have Exodia."

"Well, no, and yes. I used to have Exodia, but a mean spirited player made me loose three of the pieces. Then I re-acquired a full set during the Battle City tournament. The cards are in my deck, but I don't rely on it as a means to win. I don't need it to win."

"Amazing. So what do you rely on? What's your favorite card."

"Well, Black Magician is my favorite. But most of the time, I rely on Kuriboh."

"Pardon? You rely on, who?"

"Kuriboh. He allowed me to win against Mr. Pegasus Crawford at Duelist Kingdom."

"He did? Wow. Kuriboh has to be the weakest card in the game, too. Speaking of Duelist Kingdom. One of the prizes was a cash sum of about three million dollars, U.S. funds. Can you tell us how you've been spending it?"

"Oh, I haven't spent any of it. I gave it all to a friend of mine."

"You… Gave away three million dollars?"

"Yes."

The interviewer was in silent shock and so were Kitty and Spike.

"Three million and he gave it away?" Rogue whispered, completely aghast as she came up from behind the couch and around to the floor in front of the TV. "Kids' got to be some kinda saint."

Kitty and Spike both put their fingers to their mouths, "Shh!"

On screen the interviewer recovered from his state of catatonia and cleared his throat, "Um, why?"

"Oh, my friend's sister needed to have an operation so she wouldn't lose her eye sight and the procedure was very expensive. I wasn't in the tournament for the money and didn't need it anyway, so I gave it to my friend so he could pay for his sister's operation."

Logan leaned against the door to the living room, the Japanese catching his attention.

"Wow… why did you enter the tournament, then? If not for the money…?"

"To help someone else. Someone very important to me."

"Oh… um… give me a moment, I have to find my place…

"Ah, yes! Could you tell us about the Duel Disc system being used at this years' tournament? Before this, duels have been being done in large Holo-stadiums."

"The disc is a bit intimidating at first. Mostly because of how realistic the holograms are. You can see them, smell them, hear them breathe. It's truly amazing what Seto has been able to do. He is one of the people I respect the most. And the Duel Discs add so much more reality to the game. It's incredible how many people won't ever play with the Discs after their first time using them."

"We're almost out of time, so I'm going to skip over a bunch of other questions to address an issue that has recently made headlines in the U.S. What do you think of mutants? In general."

Yugi shrugged, "I don't really know. I'd have to meet one first, and I don't believe I have. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a great many duels to cheer Katsuya, Mai and Kaiba through, even if Seto doesn't like it!" With a final wave to the camera, Yugi trotted off through a pair of nearby doors and made his way down to the dueling arena.

"Well how about that?" Rogue smirked and leaned back against the couch, having to wedge her body between the legs of Jean and Bobby, who had joined the group shortly after she had sat down. "Kid's willing to give us a fair chance."

Jean lightly kicked Rogue's shoulder, "Not everyone in the world has mutant-phobia. Kid's got a strange taste in clothes, too."

Kitty giggled, "It looks like he's trying way too hard to go Goth."

On screen, the camera switched to a live feed. "We're here at the Duel Monsters World Championship. The Semi-finals have just ended and the final match between Seto Kaiba and Katsuya Jonouchi will begin in a few minutes. If you would like to view the tournament up to this point, we will be showing the footage continuously from 7pm eastern to midnight. This has been a long, exciting and exhausting tournament, folks; and the best part is about to start."

The camera panned to the open floor about ten feet away where the two duelists were getting into position. Kaiba barked something in Japanese to Katsuya. Jou smirked and shot back a laughing retort, making Kaiba give him a death glare. A moment later translators were brought on screen for when the match started.

The living room went quiet as the two opponents cut each others decks, then activated the duel discs.

Kitty tilted her head to one side, "That Katsuya guy is pretty cute."

Spike rolled his eyes, "Don't you ever stop thinking about guys?"

Kitty stuck out her tongue, and on screen the match started.

Kaiba spoke and his translator went to work, "I will win this. As good as you have gotten, I am still better." Kaiba kept speaking long after the translator stopped talking.

In the back of the living room, Logan chuckled and walked up to the back of the couch, "They certainly cut that translation short."

Jean leaned her head back, "What do you mean?"

"I mean they left out a great many insults that punk just gave the blond."

Kitty grinned looked at Logan sideways," You can understand them?" She could too, and it had been funny.

"Un-huh."

"So translate for us," She ordered, picking up the remote and switching to the Sun channel, which was airing the same thing, only in Japanese, and without the annoying translators. If she could get someone else to do the translating, she could enjoy the show.

Logan rolled his eyes and leaned against the back of the couch, he didn't have anything better to do.

" 'Just shut your trap, Kaiba. Now make your move so I can get on with creaming you .

'As if you could, you whiny little dog. I'll have you down on the ground where you belong by the time I'm done. And by then, you'll be begging for mercy. Mercy I will not give to a sniveling puppy. Now, I'll lay one monster, face down in defense mode, and two other cards face down on the field.

'And I'll play two cards face down as well, Kaiba. And just so's you don't get the idea that you're intimidating me or anything, I'm playing my monster in face up attack mode. I summon the Baby Dragon!' "

The air between the two shimmered and the monster appeared in all it's three dimensional glory. Jaws dropped in the living room of the Xavier Institute. The kind of technology being shown was thought to be years away from realizing. Or rather, it _had_ been. The orange-ish creature was adorable, horrible and completely opaque. In the big stadiums, the monsters were fairly translucent. This technology was simply beautiful.

Logan snorted, "They're wasting that on a card game?"

All the students glared at him and Rogue harrumphed, "Just translate, will you?" So she was into it. No one else could make fun of her for it because they were all watching just as avidly as she was.

" 'A desperate move already? I thought I'd at least get two turns in before you started to sweat. Guess I shouldn't give puppies the benefit of the doubt. It's my turn now and I think I'll place yet another monster in face down defense mode onto the field.

'I'll lay one more card face down on the field and summon another monster. This one I got I from a friend of mine. His name's Kuriboh. And I think I'll pair him up with another card I got from that same friend. It's a magic card called mul-ti-pli-ca-tion."

Kaiba gave Katsuya a glare that could give Pegasus chills. Then he drew a card and a smirk of complete satisfaction came over his face.

" 'I was right, you weren't able to get this far on your own. You needed little Yugi to help you by giving you yet more charity. First he gives you Time wizard, then he gives you the money from Duelist Kingdom, and now he gives you one of his signature combos. You really are a whimpering dog, begging for scraps. I'll flip over my Lord of Dragon and equip him with the Flute of Summoning Dragon to summon two Blue Eyes White Dragons from my hand to the field in face up attack mode. Then, I'll play Polymerization to bring forth the Ultimate Blue Eyes. It's your turn."

Katsuya didn't look worried in the least and simply drew another card. This pissed Kaiba off even more.

" 'I'll lay a forth card face down on the field, then I'll play a third monster in face down defense mode. Go ahead Kaiba.

'I will draw my card and end my turn.

'I'll play Polymerization myself, and summon the Black Demon Dragon, then equip him with the Dragon Claws, which were placed on the field, and the Dragon treasure. I'll then play the Yami Field card, changing the field to dark and giving my monster a power boost, bringing his attack points up enough to equal your Blue Eyes. Your turn Kaiba.

'I'll flip Sagi, the Dark Clown and place him in attack mode.

'Aw, too bad you can't pull off that Crush card combo you're getting ready to do.

'What? Of course I can!

'I've seen you play that one time too many, and I've come prepared to deal with it. So I'm going to play my trap, the Fissure card! Bye bye Sagi!

'Damn you! I play Pot of Greed, and draw two cards. It's your turn.

'Is that all you got? Heh, you know something, I think I'll play Just Desserts. Take 500 points of direct damage for every monster you got on the field. Aw, your life points are to 1000, while mine are still sitting pretty at 2000. Your turn."

Kaiba drew a card, the look on his face was one of mixed determination, hate, and oddly enough, joy.

" 'I play Rageki. And since this years' tournament allows direct damage if there are no monsters on the field, I wipe out your life points with my Blue Eyes.

'Nice try, but I still had one card face down on the field. It's a trap called Wokobu.

'Guess the puppy lives to get kicked another day. It's your turn.

'I'll play Time Wizard. Go Time Roulette!"

Seconds passed and the small student body of the Xavier Institute leaned forward as a group. The Time Wizards' spinner slowed.

Then stopped.

On time warp.

Kaiba looked stricken as his monsters started to decay and turn to dust, " 'You will pay for destroying my Blue Eyes.

'Bring it on Kaiba. I'm at the top of my game and ready for anything you can throw at me!

'Are you so sure of that? After all, it's my turn now. And I play one monster in face down defense mode."

*****000*****

Scott and Kurt headed back upstairs via. the elevator, "Sorry Kurt, it's never been this hard to find the Professor before."

"It's alright. I just wish we knew where he was so I could teleport straight there."

"I wonder where he could be…" Scott slapped his forehead, "I just remembered! He's at school, talking to someone about the student exchange program. Remember! Kitty got picked to go to Japan, and some kid from over there _has_ to come live with us in return!"

"Oh, man. You mean we have to wait? And…Wait. We have to host an exchange student?! For how long?"

"Two months."

"What?!"

"Kitty has to go over there for the last quarter of the school year, and whoever is coming from over there has to stay as long as she does."

"You mean, we'll have to hide who we are… in our own house?! It's hard enough for me to get through a day at school, and now I'll have to watch myself at home?"

"Aw, it won't be that bad. And besides, it's not like the guy will be able to, you know, get into the danger room, or anything."

"Yes, just like 'Arcade' did at our party, you mean?"

"But Professor Xavier will be here, so he'll know if anyone will be trying to enter. We'll be fine, and it's still a couple months away. We'll have stuff figured out by then. Now, since we can't find the Prof., how about we talk to Logan?"

*****000*****

" 'I think you're losing you're edge, Kaiba. Admit it, I've got you on the ropes. Why? 'Cause I'm using everything I've ever learned about Duel Monsters, and I trust in the heart of the cards, just like Yugi's always saying. Can you say the same? I don't think your hearts in this game, Kaiba. Usually you wipe me out right off the bat. What? You too distracted by this puppy dog's eyes? I told you when I was entering that I wasn't going to hold back. I got my pride. I think I'll play one monster face down on the field myself. Now you can go. I've said my piece.

'I will play Tremendous Fire, causing 500 points of damage to myself and 1000 points to you. Now you're down to 1000. And I think I'll get ahead of you by using Dian Keto, the Cure Master.

'Aw, man…

'But I'm not done yet, not by far. I flip the monster I placed face down last turn.

'Cyber Jar? Damn.

'You know the rules, puppy.

'Shut up, I'm drawing.

'I special summon two monsters onto the field.

'I'll special summon three.

'I'll play my final magic card of this turn. Reborn the Monster! Arise, Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon! Now, it's your turn

'I'll attack one of your face down monsters with the Swamp Battle Guard. And the other with the Lava Battle Guard.

'You destroy two of my monsters, but there's still the Blue Eyes to worry about.

'Did I say I was done? I got me a card here that will keep your over-grown hydra at bay. It's called Gravity Bind.

'Nice try, but all I have to do is play my Remove Trap and my Blue Eyes can attack your two monsters who are in attack mode. Meaning I can do damage to your life points with his attack. And since you have no cards on the field, you can't play any traps. I win.

'Yep. Guess you do. I still held my own, though. So I'm good. Congratulations.'"

Logan pushed himself up, "Looks like it's over. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to find something better to do." It had been funny, the insults. But really, it was kids' stuff.

"Thanks!" Kitty called, waving without looking back, her other hand switching the channel back to the English speaking one.

Spike was the next to speak. Well, shout really, as he let out a 'whoop' of triumph. "Did you see that!? The odds of it! And Kaiba! Even after his Blue Eyes was wiped out!"

"Can you believe that technology? It was so realistic! I can't wait to go to Japan!"

Bobby looked sideways at Kitty, "You're going to Japan?"

*****000*****

Yugi ducked under the cordon separating the duelists from the crowd and ran for his best friend, enveloping Katsuya in a tight hug, "That was great, Jou!"

Anzu and Hiroto ran up as well, but came to a stop about a foot away from the two. Yugi was the only one who could really get away with just running up and hugging someone. He was so short and light that he didn't run as high a risk of knocking people over.

Katsuya laughed and hugged his best friend right back, "Thanks Yuug! I didn't win, but that's been the longest I've ever held out against Kaiba. Maybe next time I will win. Thanks again for trading me those cards."

"No problem. The extra Shield and Sword you traded for them will come in handy in future duels and… Oh! Hey Kaiba! Congratulations."

Seto Kaiba crossed his arms and sneered, "Wasn't much of a win. I had been looking forward to beating you. You ready to go, Anzu? I promised Mokuba I wouldn't 'dawdle' after the match and let him run through my virtual world. And you," the teen turned to Katsuya. "If you ever make a comment suggesting I see you in _any_ way more than annoyance, I'll stop what ever I'm doing and pound you into the ground."

Jonouchi half-smiled, "If you can get away with calling me a puppy, then I get to make fun of you. You and Mazaki here will be going to the party Yugi is throwing to celebrate your win, right?"

Anzu linked arms with Seto and leaned against his shoulder, "Wouldn't miss it for the world. Mai's coming, isn't she?"

"Of course she's coming. Can't show up at a party without my girlfriend. How would that look?

"Great! Then, we'll see you guys later! Bye!"

Yugi and company waved at their friend's retreating back as she followed Seto to his private helicopter. Those two getting together had been quite a shock. Yugi had been a bit hurt at the time, as he had had a crush on Anzu since about sixth grade. But seeing how happy she was made him feel better about it, even if he still got a pang of regret now and then. And on the plus side, she seemed to have a calming effect on Kaiba. He was less hostile. Outside of a duel, anyway.

Katsuya held his hands up, 'V' for victory style, "Yeah! I did great! Did you see the look on Kaiba's face when I played that Kuriboh combo on him? Talk about psych tactics! Ha!"

"Katsuya! You did wonderful!" Mai Valentine hugged Jou from behind, her grip making the boy go blue. Then she released him and turned around, crossing her arms and sticking her nose into the air, "But don't think doing so well will get you off the hook for stomping me in the semi-finals. You're going to have to earn my forgiveness on that."

"But Mai… It was a Duel. You know the saying… All's fair in love and Duel Monsters. You were the one who told me that. And besides, you were trying to do the same to me. I'm just a better Duelist, is all."

"Humph."

"Mai…"

"Yugi, Hiroto, I'll see you later. You're still planning on having a party aren't you, Yugi?"

"Of course he is," Jou answered for his friend.

"Good. Jonouchi, come along."

"What? Why do I have to go?"

"I told you, you're going to have to earn my forgiveness. And you can start by taking me out shopping. I think we should start with shoes…" Mai wandered off, counting to herself all the things Jou needed to buy her.

Katsuya sighed and hung his head, "I guess I'll see you guys later. MAI! Wait up!"

Hiroto chuckled and started to walk the other way, Yugi at his side. "Man, has she got him whipped. Hey, I hate to leave you alone and all, buddy, but I've got a date with Bakura to get to. That sounded wrong. I don't mean a 'date.' I mean, we set up a time to get together and hang. It's cool, right? 'Cause if you want, I can walk you home."

Yugi smiled up at his friend, "It's alright. I won't be alone. You're forgetting about Yami. Besides, we won't be heading home until about a half hour before the party. Shadi wants to see us. So I'll be fine."

"Great. See you later then. Tell your doppelganger I said hey."

"I will," Yugi said as he waved to the last of his friends. Yami had been out playing the part of 'Yugi Motou, World Duel Monsters Champion' while Yugi had been watching the games without risk of being hounded by a bunch of reporters. Yami had even gone and done an interview with an American reporter.

_/Ready to get away?/_ The spiky haired boy asked his darker half via their bond.

_//Is the match over?//_

_/Yep./_

_//Are you off the Duel Grounds yet?//_

_/No. Give me five minutes, and I'll be at Shadi's apartment./_

_//Five minutes it is. I'm about ready to mind blast someone.//_

_/No!/_

_//Relax. I'm not going to, just ready to. There is a difference. And none of them have done anything to warrant the Penalty Game. Yet.//_

Yugi chuckled and picked up his pace; his darker half's emotions rumbling gently through the back of his mind.

Ever since the Battle City tournament, when Yugi started to really unlock the secrets of the Puzzle, Shadi had been teleporting in and teaching Yugi to control his new power. Because of this, the Egyptian now rented an apartment in Domino City. Rent paid for three years courtesy of Ishizu Ishtar, who had as much interest in seeing 'her Pharaoh' re-educated in the ways of magic as Shadi did. Shadi didn't really live there, he just teleported in at pre-set times to give Yugi his lessons. And since the Egyptian no longer had to worry about watching the Scales or protecting the Key- those had been given to Yami to store within the endless maze of the puzzle just a few weeks ago- he had been spending more and more time in Domino.

Both Shadi and Ishizu were trusting in Yugi to fulfill his destiny and save the world from the evil that was prophesied to arise if the Shadow Games were ever played again. Yugi had been participating in the Shadow Games for a little over a year now, ever since he had solved the Millennium Puzzle. Though, he hadn't known it at that time. When he found out about the prophecy, he swore to do whatever he could to help. His philosophy always had been 'why make others suffer when I can do it for them?' He could take being punished and hurt if it meant others, even strangers, wouldn't be.

When he got to the door of Shadi's place, he sent Yami a quick thought. Less than a moment later, he could feel his darker half entering the puzzle. It always felt like his soul was being wrapped up in a warm blanket. He sighed in contentment as, for the moment, he was as close to being complete as he ever could come. Ishizu and Shadi had explained it once, why he and Yami felt that way.

According to them, Yami and Yugi are two halves of one soul. A soul that had been sundered five millennia ago. It was the only way to seal the great evil that had tried to take over the ancient world. According to the legends passed down from father to son in Shadi's family, the Great Pharaoh that saved the world ruled fairly afterwards, but still died younger than he should have. The Puzzle, the mystical item that housed and imprisoned the other half of his soul, ended up being the only item of the Sennen Set to be buried with him. The rest had been taken by Shadi's family for safe-keeping until their proper bearers came to claim them. Or were claimed _by_ them, as in the case of the Puzzle and the Ring.

Yugi felt Yami once again leave the puzzle and opened his eyes to look into the face of his soul.

Yami's lips curved upward and his left hand tucked some of Yugi's bangs behind one ear, "Hello, my hikari."

"Hey. Now you can tell me all about the interviews you had to sit through."

"Oh, you'll hear about them, alright. I can't believe I agreed to that."

Yugi laughed and unlocked Shadi's door with the key he had been given, "You were a king, you should be used to the public eye."

"Egyptian courtiers and ambassadors from other countries were far more polite. And I wasn't as short."

"Hey! What's that got to do with anything?"

Yami smiled and pushed Yugi through the door, closing it behind them, then changed the subject, "Have you told Shadi about our trip to America?"

"No, he has not. And I should like to know why," Shadi answered for himself and sealed the apartment with magic so no one could disturb them.

*****000*****

End Chapter One


	3. Chapter 2

**The Fourth "God"**

A Yu-Gi-Oh!/X-Men: Evolution crossover fic.

Written by Rogue Moon

"_They are outcasts. They are mutants. Every day, they put their lives on the line to protect a world that fears and hates them. They are the X-Men."_

*****000*****

Chapter Two

Logan, aka Wolverine of the X-men, easily dodged the fist coming at him from the left, "Is that all you got, kid? I could see that coming from a mile away."

Scott Summers threw a kick to Logan's stomach, but that too was dodged. Instead of replying to his teachers taunts, the 'boy-scout' of the group feinted with another left and then threw a right cross, barely grazing Logan's chin.

Logan grinned and swept Scott's feet out from under him. The boy landed with an 'oof' and stayed down, panting hard , "I give."

"Good. We're done anyway. I have to get cleaned up and go meet that exchange student at the bus station."

"Has it been 12 hours already? Geez, time flies when Kitty's not around to stretch it out with her mouth."

Logan chuckled and rubbed his neck with a towel. He knew Scott was only making fun to keep from missing Kitty too much. That was part of why he had volunteered to spar with Logan. He wanted to keep his mind off the fact that Kitty would be gone for the next two months, with only written letters and occasional phone calls to keep in contact. The kids were all very close to each other and were more of a family than just a group of friends.

The Canadian tossed a second towel to Scott, who caught it with his head, having not seen it coming. He was lying on the floor after all, "Get up and clean up. Remind the rest of our mourning students that the kid from Japan will be here in a little more than an hour, will ya? Charlie said you all had to greet him at the door. Make the poor unfortunate soul feel welcome and all that."

Scott groaned and rolled himself up, then slowly, ever so slowly, forced himself into the locker room for a nice hot shower.

Logan hadn't worked up a sweat while sparring with Scott, the kid hadn't been using his force blasts so the Canadian hadn't needed to use much effort. This being the case, Logan simply went up to his room and switched into clean clothes. He did a quick check of his pockets for all the essentials- keys, wallet, cigars- and headed down to the garage. Pausing for a moment at the entrance, he decided to take the jeep. The weather was nice and the exchange student would probably feel more comfortable in the open air than in a more conventional car.

*****000*****

Yugi Motou ran as fast as he possibly could to the airports baggage claim. The flight had been long and he hadn't been able to sleep. Not that he hadn't wanted to, but there was something about a plane that wouldn't let him. Yami on the other hand…

_//Is it that big of a deal?//_

_/I couldn't get to sleep! I was bored! And you wouldn't wake up!/_

_//…//_

_/Not that it matters right now… Anyway, you're faster. Can you take over and get us to the baggage claim? I want to make sure no one steals our bags…/_

In response, Yami simply took over. Even though it was the same body, Yami could some how make it perform at its peek. Something Yugi couldn't do no matter how hard he tried. And he did try. He had become far more athletically active since 'meeting' Yami.

The darker-half ducked them out of the way of a hurrying businessman and then slid them under and between a pair of legs belonging to a woman with an extremely short skirt. A loud '_Eek!_' echoed through the Airport, followed by many, many words in the woman's extensive vocabulary. Yami and Yugi were both grinning hugely. It's not everyday a guy sees a girl that wears a hot pink thong and obviously gets a bikini wax on a regular basis.

_/We'll have to tell Katsuya and Hiroto about all the …'sights' we've seen./_

_//Think Jou will loan us that 'sight-seeing' video he was taunting us about if we do?//_

_/I hope so! He said it was uncensored…/_

_///Score!///_ Both halves shouted to each other. A 16-year-old boy is, after all, a 16-year-old boy, no matter how old his soul.

Yami came to a skidding halt in front of the baggage claim. Only three bags were on it, none of them belonged to the small boy. Yugi had only packed two suitcases along with his carry on bag. The suitcases had been a gift from Grandpa for being a good enough student to be picked for the program. Katsuya and his other friends had all given him small going away presents at the airport. Well, most of the presents had been small. And since everything Yugi had packed only took up one and a half of his suitcases, he had put most of the presents in the last half. He really didn't want to lose the gifts his friends had given him. And they had even made him promise not to open them until he got to his host's home; he was dying to know what the gifts were.

_//There they are!//_ Yami warned his lighter half just before he lunged forward and snatched their bags from the belt. The small boy then trudged to the nearest terminal map and let Yugi take over once more. Yugi searched one side of the map while Yami, in spirit form so no one could see him, searched the other half.

Yugi was the first to spot the bus terminal they wanted, "Here we are. The bus we want stops at Terminal B. Our ticket will take us all the way to Salem Center. The info packet the school sent says that the ride will take about a half hour. Someone should be there to pick us up when we arrive to take us just a bit further north to a town called Bayville."

_//Where are we staying, again?//_

"Let me check… Some place called the Xaviieru Institotou. Apparently it's a live-in secondary school. Kids stay there and take classes they offer along with going to the local high school," Yugi answered aloud and picked up his bags. It didn't matter if anyone heard him; he was speaking in Japanese. And even if anyone could understand him, they'd probably just think he was repeating instructions to himself.

_//The person we're 'exchanging' with comes from this place?//_

"Apparently. I wonder what it will be like? We'll probably have to wear uniforms there, too." The last sentence was filled with a bit of regret. Yugi had been hoping that he could wear his own clothes to school, just like he saw people doing in the American movies.

*****000*****

Scott finished his shower with a long, loud moan of regret. How he would love to stay under the hot water's pounding spray. But such was not to be if he was going to get the rest of the Institutes inhabitants ready to meet the exchange student. None of them had even learned the guys name, or if it _was_ a guy. When asked, the Professor smiled and said that it wasn't important at the moment and would then send the querent off on some errand. For almost two months, Professor Xavier, Logan and even Ororo had kept the secret of the student's identity. And not knowing was driving most of them crazy.

Scott finished drying off and headed upstairs, clad in only a pair of dark gray, drawstring sweat pants. The first person he saw was Rogue, who was blushing about something as she came off the elevator.

"Better make whatever you're doing down here go fast," Scott said, going past her. "We're meeting the exchange student at the front hall in about twenty minutes."

"R-right. Twenty minutes. Sure thing," Rogue smiled, trying to make her blush go away. Seeing Scott without his shirt on had been an unexpected and pleasant surprise. She had been crushing on the boy since their first joint assignment in English class. The way he had read Shakespeare's words to her made butterflies fly around in her stomach. Scott smiled back as the door closed on him. As soon as the doors shut completely, Rogue spun around, letting a wave of giddiness take over. Something she would never do in public.

When the elevator let him off, Scott headed up to Jean's room. He knocked twice on her door, paused, then knocked twice again.

"Come in Scott!" the redhead's voice filtered through the wood.

Scott opened the door and glanced around. Spotting the girl he thought was an angel come down from Heaven at her desk, he entered fully and walked over. "What you working on?"

"Just some calculus. What do you need?"

"I'm supposed to tell everyone to meet in the Entrance Hall to meet the exchange student in about 15 minutes. I was wondering if you'd do a quick call for me?"

"Sure. I could use a break from all these numbers. Give me a second," Jean replied, closing her book and then her eyes in concentration. "There. Done. Everyone on the estate knows. Now go get dressed. We don't want the kid thinking we're all a bunch of pigs or something, do we? And thanks for the warning."

Scott waved behind him as he left, "No problem."

*****000*****

Yugi stumbled off the bus and out of the way of others who needed to disembark. Stretching his arms, he wandered over to where a man was removing baggage from the bus' side. Unnoticed by the taller attendant, the violet-eyed boy quickly snatched up his suitcases and picked his way to where a line of cars was waiting. Most of the cars had a person in front of them holding signs written in English. Each sign had a name, and none of them said Yugi or Motou.

As part of the exchange program, it was required that the students learn to at least speak a second language. Yugi had learned to read, write, and speak five; not including his native Japanese. One of the languages was pretty much extinct, considering that modern Egyptians used Arabic as their national language. But with Yami in his head, Yugi had learned ancient Egyptian rather fast and could now read the Hieroglyphics found in so many museum displays. On top of that, he knew Arabic, Hebrew, and Latin. Those three had also come from Yami's memories. As Pharaoh, it was required that he learn them. Yugi had decided he wanted to learn English so he could travel to America and England for Duel Monster Tournaments and be able to understand what was being said around him.

Sighing, Yugi went over to a nearby bench and sat down. _/Guess our ride's not here yet./_

_//I don't want to upset you, but there is a very …rude looking man heading our way. Be ready for trouble.//_

_/Great! Just what we need. A bully right off the bat./_ Yugi looked up from under long lashes and spotted the man Yami was talking about. The man couldn't have been taller than five foot, but then again, he didn't need to be. Not with all the muscles rippling over his chest as he walked, his eyes locked on Yugi. The man was wearing a black leather jacket over a white wife-beater. Plain blue jeans covered his legs, but did nothing to hide the muscles there. On his head was a cowboy hat and in his hand was a lit cigar. Just as Yugi was worried about, the man stopped in front of him. After studying him for a minute, the man spoke. In Japanese.

"You the kid named Yugi Motou?" Logan asked the small, very frightened looking Japanese boy in front of him. The Canadian had seen the boy when he got off the bus, but hadn't thought that he was the exchange student. The kid he was picking up was supposed to be 16 and the boy in front of him looked more like 13. A frightened, deer-caught-in-the-headlights 13. Kid probably got picked on a lot. But since he was the only Japanese kid, and the only one wearing a Japanese school uniform, Logan decided to check him out. If it ended up he had the wrong kid, then he would just call the Institute and tell Charles that the kid wasn't on the bus and then wait for the next.

Yugi gulped, "H-hai." _/Please don't be from the Institute. Please don't be from the Institute. Please…/_

Logan took a long drag on his cigar, then held out his hand in greeting, "Name's Logan. I'm from the Xavier Institute. Since I'm the most fluent in Japanese, I was sent to pick you up."

_/Kuso!/_ Yugi cursed to himself and timidly took Logan's hand. Said man gave him a quick, firm shake then grabbed Yugi's bags.

"Jeep's this way," he grumbled and headed off to the far end of the car line. There was something about the kid that made Logan uneasy. Something about his scent. He smelled… old. Kind of like Mystique smelled, only older, more experienced. And at the same time the kid's scent reeked of…well, innocence. Weird.

"I can speak English…" The small boy offered, trotting slightly to keep up with the short man's stride. Logan was naturally much faster than anyone Yugi had ever met.

At Yugi's words, the Canadian looked over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow. He then shook his head and a moment later came to a stop in front of a black Jeep. Tossing the boys bags in the back, Logan went around the other side and climbed into the drivers seat. He leaned over, unlocked Yugi's door, put on his seat belt and waited for Yugi to get in. Gulping once more, Yugi climbed into the car and put his own seat belt on.

Logan grinned, "Relax kid. I'm not going to bite."

" 'Come into my parlor, said the spider to the fly' I believe is the quote I am looking for," Yugi replied in clipped English, shifting himself closer to the door. Just in case.

"Flies bug me and I have a habit of stomping on spiders. What music you like?"

"Music?"

"Yeah. Music. What do you like? It's a short trip to the Institute, but I like listening to tunes when I'm in a car," Logan replied as he pulled out and headed into traffic.

"Techno?" Yugi pronounced slowly, making sure he had the word right, but still turning it into a question.

"Techno it is."

*****000*****

Kurt adjusted his shirt for the fifth time, "Are you sure I look alright?"

Jean rolled her eyes and lightly shoved Kurt into the Entrance Hall, "You look fine, Kurt. Nothing is out of place. Now move it. The exchange student will be here soon."

"I don't know… What if he finds out about us? About me? What if…"

"If he does, then he does. Hopefully he won't, but if he does, I'm sure we'll have made a nice enough impression on him that he, or she, won't come up with a case of Mutant-phobia. And if worse comes to worse, then the Professor can do something about it."

"But…"

"No more 'buts' Kurt! Now stand up straight and…"

_::Excuse my interruption::_ Professor Charles Xavier, Founder of the Xavier Institute and most powerful psychic in the world, interrupted his students' thoughts with his own. He entered the Hall, pushed by Ororo Munroe, aka Storm, "Logan is about five minutes away, and I believe it's time to tell you the identity of the young man who will be staying with us. I did not wish to inform you of this before now because it would only give you time to contemplate many more ways to make fools of yourselves. No insult intended, but I have seen how you react to his name. As you know, he is from Japan. And saying that, Yugi Motou will be staying with us for the next two months."

Whatever reaction Xavier was expecting, he got it within two seconds. Namely in the form of a sputtered gasp from Evan Danials aka Spike.

"_The_ Yugi Motou? World Champion of Duel Monsters? Tell me it's a joke."

"It's no joke. Apparently he was chosen prior to his fame and since the second choice was as equally famous, they decided to let him come. Now I don't want you treating him like a celebrity. He is to be treated the same as you would treat anyone else. That being said, here he is now."

Logan pushed open the front door and held it ajar so an extremely short young man with spiked hair so dark a red it looked black except for the tips where light filtered through, could enter unhindered. His bangs were golden blond and he had the most vibrant violet eyes. He was dressed in a dark blue suit and polished black shoes. Around his neck was an industrial steel chain that held a large gold pendant in the shape of an inverted pyramid adorned on one side with the Eye of Ra.

Yugi looked around at the group set up to greet him. One was a bald man in a wheelchair and behind him was beautiful black woman with long white hair. Next to those two stood a boy around Yugi's age who had brown hair and wore ruby sunglasses. Then came a boy with shoulder length black hair and rather baggy clothing who was standing half behind a very attractive redhead. Next to her, on the other side, was a black boy with bleached strips of fuzz covering his scalp in some sort of pattern. One more boy stood slightly apart from the redhead. He was a regular looking brown haired boy with no real distinguishing features. Standing still further from the group was a pale girl who sported a white streak through her brown hair and was wearing clothes closer to Yugi's taste. _/Maybe I won't have to wear a uniform, after all./_

The man in the wheelchair was pushed forward, "Hello and Welcome to the Xavier Institute. I am Professor Charles Xavier. The lovely lady behind me is Ororo Munroe, one of the four teachers who reside here. I am one as well as Logan, whom you've already met. The forth hardly ever comes out of his laboratory, so I doubt you'll be seeing him at all. These other students with whom you will be sharing a roof are called Scott, Kurt, Jean, Evan, Bobby, and Rogue. Scott and Jean will show you to your room. I regret that I will not be able to go over things with you until tomorrow, but I have a very busy day ahead of me yet."

"Thank you, Xavier-sama," Yugi bowed, trying to remember everything Grandpa had taught him about manners. "It is a pleasure to meet you all."

The Professor smiled and had Ororo push him out of the hall and to his office, leaving Yugi to the wolves. The first to pounce was a bleached blond skater boy.

"Hi. Name's Evan. Nice to meet you," Spike came up and held out his hand.

Yugi smiled shyly and took it, "Hello, Evan-san"

"So, are you really the Duel Monsters World Champion?"

Yugi blinked in surprise, his face breaking out in a wide grin, "You like Duel Monsters?"

"A little… So, you the champ or what?"

Yugi laughed and scratched the back of his head, "If by champ, you mean 'have I beaten Kaiba-kun?' then yes. I am the World Champion. Although it is not really official since I have not competed in an official World Tournament. Although," Yugi thought for a moment, trying to remember. "Pegasus-san's man, Croquet-san did say I earned the title of 'King of Games' by beating Pegasus-san."

Evan opened his mouth to ask another question, but was politely pushed to one side by the boy wearing glasses, "You can interrogate him later, Evan. Right now, Jean and I are going to show him to his room and then give him a quick tour of the Institute." The brunette smirked and picked up one of Yugi's bags, "My name's Scott. The girl with red hair is Jean. And your room is right this way."

Yugi turned around to thank Logan for the ride, but found that the short man was already gone. _/I will thank him later…/_ Turning back around and smiling shyly to Jean and Scott, who were waiting at the base of the stairs, Yugi timidly walked to them and followed them up to his new room.

*****000*****

Logan followed Xavier and Ororo into the bald man's office. Once inside, Xavier pushed himself behind his desk and turned on his computer. Logan and Ororo sat down in the leather chairs facing the head of the Institute.

Satisfied that all was still well with his computer, Xavier turned to his friends, "Thoughts?"

Logan pulled out a cigar and lit it, taking a puff, and then blowing a smoke ring as Ororo gathered her thoughts. She was the first to speak, "He is very shy. Much like Kurt was when he first came to us. It is unfortunate that we cannot reveal ourselves to him. Not unless he is a mutant himself…?"

Charles shook his head and waved to the monitor, "Not according to Cerebro. And this close, its very hard for her _not_ to detect a mutant bio signature. This will be hard on the others."

"Did he have any negative thoughts or feelings that we should be aware of?"

"Actually, no. He has a very strong natural shield over his thoughts. Although, the shield did feel strange…"

"Kind of old?" Logan asked, joining the conversation and kicking his feet up onto Xavier's desk.

Ororo turned to her friend, "What do you mean?"

"Kid smells old. Not age wise. But there's this impression of great age and experience that I get from his scent. Kinda how you smell, only more intense."

"Really? Perhaps he has grown up on the streets? One does earn life experience quickly that way."

Charles shook his head, "I don't believe that's the case with this young man. While his thoughts were shielded, his emotions were not. He seems to feel emotions at full intensity. When he arrived, I was somewhat overwhelmed by his feeling of embarrassment as he walked through the door. Embarrassment over what I am unsure of, but just the same, if he had grown up in an environment as you describe, Ororo, he would have had other emotions underlying his embarrassment…" The bald man focused on Logan, "How was he in the car?"

"Quiet," the Canadian replied, letting out another smoke ring. "Found out he likes Techno music. Him and Rogue should get along. He's also got a healthy dose of suspicion in him. He doesn't trust as easily as he seems to. It took me stopping at the Institute door for him to relax and stop acting like he was about to jump out of the Jeep."

Ororo laughed, "I am unsurprised. I, too, would be suspicious if someone from a school looking the way you do picked me up at a bus station."

Logan shrugged, "He'll get used to it. Laughs at the oddest things. I was trying to make conversation and asked him if he wanted to do any sight seeing and he replies that he'd already been sight seeing. Then he starts giggling uncontrollably. Anyway, I'm more worried about something else." The Canadian put out his cigarette, put down his feet and leaned forward in his chair. "When we were driving here, there was someone watching us. Following us. I don't know who, or how, or where, but it felt like they were right behind me the entire time. And by behind me, I mean in the back seat with their feet kicked up."

*****000*****

After Scott, Jean and an extremely enthusiastic Evan had taken Yugi to his room, the small boy had begged off the tour until later. Honestly tired and wanting to get some sleep, he asked that the tour wait until after dinner, which would be in a couple hours. His real reason was so he could open his presents. Jean smiled another dazzling smile at him and said she'd be up to get him for dinner, then left, pulling Evan with her as she reprimanded him for being so rude.

Giggling to himself, he quietly locked the door behind them and trotted to his bed. The room he had been given was huge. In comparison to his own at home, anyway. Three rooms his size could have fit with in this one, and that wasn't even counting the own private bath this one came with. It was decorated in 'Guest Room Chic' brown, tan, and cream. Not exactly to Yugi's taste, but he wasn't about to complain.

Sitting down on the bed, Yugi pulled out the gift Katsuya had proudly shoved into his hands. It wasn't wrapped very well, and there was an awful lot of tape, but Yugi knew his friend meant well, and he was happy that Jou had even thought of a present.

The mattress beside the small boy depressed as Yami took physical form and sat down next to Yugi, crossing his legs so they didn't dangle over the side. He had been in spirit form since the airport. The car ride had been interesting because of it. When Yugi had hopped in the passenger seat, Yami had slid his spirit self into the back seat and put his feet up on the head rest of Logan-san's seat. During the short trip, he made comment after comment, trying to get Yugi to laugh and only succeeding after Logan asked about sight seeing.

The dark one reached over and picked at the oddly shaped bundle, "What do you think it is, my Hikari?"

Yugi shrugged, "Probably food. Why don't we find out?"

A snowfall of shredded paper later, the two halves were grinning from ear to ear as they each carefully held one of Kaiba Corp.'s newest prototype Duel Disc systems. These were much, _much_ smaller than the previous two and it was obvious Seto had slaved to get these done right. The units were twice the length of the boys' normal wristbands, and slightly thicker; like metal bracers from the dark ages of Europe. On the bands were the usual deck holders, and they were missing the large knife like trays that acted as the field. Instead, there was a 'fan' of metal that folded out from the housing, making the overall design that much sleeker. The holo-generators still shot out from the Disc, but the two that each system had were now only an inch square.

One of the discs' was decorated like Kaiba normally had his disks: silver and blue with red accents. And oddly enough, a chibi puppy at the clasp. The other, however, was painted black and had gold accents. This one had to have been made specifically for Yugi. On top of its deck holder was a golden Eye of Ra. Yami traced its outline with one finger, amazed that Kaiba would allow such a thing, and then allow Jou to hand it over to them.

On the bed between the two was a note written in Anzu's tidy, looping handwriting. Yugi picked it up and read it out loud:

"Dear Yugi,

"These are Seto's newest and most advanced Disc systems. One of them is yours (I think you can figure out which) and the other is Katsuya's. Jou decided to have his gift to you be the wonderful decorating job he did on your system. But since one of them is practically useless alone, he sent his along in case you wanted to duel anyone. He does expect his back in tiptop condition when you come home. Although if you end up scratching off the puppy Seto had put on there, I don't think he'd be too upset. Seto says he's only giving this to you because A) I insisted and B) you are the top duelist in the entire world and he has respect for that. I think he doesn't want to admit that he considers you a good enough friend to give a gift to. He doesn't like to think he has friends. Anyway, mine and Hiroto's part of this gift are the Duel Monsters cards in the attached envelope. Have fun in America and try out the disc system soon. Seto expects a report on their performance as soon as possible. Call and write as soon as you can.

"Best Friends Forever,

"Anzu

"P.S. Seto says that the discs are programmed to read every language Duel Monster cards are printed in, so you should be able to duel someone while you're there. If you can find anyone who wants to duel."

Yugi leaned back against Yami as his dark side adjusted their personal disc system, making sure it fit right. Yami had placed it on Yugi's left wrist while his light side read the letter. After making sure the disc wouldn't slide about, the Pharaoh opened up the envelope and pulled out five cards: 'Magician of Faith', 'Science Soldier', 'The Flame Swordsman', 'Change of Heart' and a 'Just Desserts' with the initials 'K.S.' written in silver ink.

Yami chuckled, "Well, what do you know… A soul card to for each of our friends to add power to our deck. Interesting that she would choose 'Just Desserts' for Kaiba's."

Yugi grinned, admiring his duel disc, "Appropriate, too."

Yami laughed with his light and leaned over to pull out the packages from Ishizu and Ryou. The former had given them a cryptic message when she had placed it in their hands at the airport and the latter had shoved his gift at Yugi and then ran away as if the hounds of Hell were on his heels. Yami opened Ishizu's first, eyes going wide. Inside the package was the Millennium Tankh. The Millennium Item that let one look into the future, or the past.

With shaking hands, the Pharaoh picked the golden piece up and placed it around his own neck. When he next entered his soul room within the Puzzle, the Tankh would come with him. Yugi reached up and gently touched the Eye of Ra that all items within the Sennen Set, with the exception of the Ankh, were adorned with.

So engrossed was he in studying it, the knock at the door minutes later made him yelp in surprise and fall off the bed with a loud thump.

*****000*****

Just before dinner, Jean headed upstairs to get Yugi as she had promised. Scanning the area, she caught Evan's grumbling thoughts and a strange blankness from Yugi's room. She then realized that the blankness was the exchange students' natural mental shield. She had been shielding herself when he arrived, but the Professor had told her about Yugi's shield after she had shown him to his room. It was really amazing how strong it was.

Coming up to the door, she gave three sharp knocks. In response, she heard a muffled yelp followed by a loud thump. Worried, she called through the door, "Yugi? Are you alright?"

What sounded like a conversation filtered through the wood and then Yugi opened the door, looking slightly flustered. He was still dressed in his traveling clothes. He smiled up at Jean, "Yes Jean-san? Is it time for dinner already?"

"Yep. I'm here to show you where the Dining Hall is. And then give you the tour after. Evan's probably going to jump you and try to get as much information out of you as possible. You know, about Duel Monsters. If you stick close to me, he won't be able to bug you too much."

Yugi blushed and looked down, following her down the main hall to the grand staircase. Jean led him under the stairs via a large, engraved set of dark wooden doors and down a new hall. Three doors on the right later, the redhead opened a second set of large doors and brought them into the Dining Hall.

When they entered, the noise level of the room lowered considerably as the students remembered they were supposed to have manners. Yugi edged behind Jean, trying to keep out of sight of everyone. Lots of eyes on him made him feel nervous. Jean led him to the empty seat to the left of the Professor who was at the head of the table. As the small boy nervously pulled out his chair to sit down, Jean leaned over and loudly whispered in his ear, "You can take your coat off if you want. We don't have many formal meals."

Blushing in embarrassment, Yugi unzipped his school jacket and took it off, feeling relief overcome his embarrassment. Until he realized everyone was staring at him. Eyes wide, he mentally reviewed what he was wearing and couldn't see what the big deal was. He had on his normal neck collar and sleeveless black leather shirt with straps across the chest. Around his upper arms were gold bands about two inches wide and on his wrists were the Duel Disc and a black leather cuff. And of course he still wore the Millennium Puzzle. Yugi was actually dressed down. Normally he would have had on a lot more jewelry, an extra belt and leather pants or dark blue jeans.

_/Rogue-san wears the same type of clothing as we do, what's the big deal?/_ Yugi whined to Yami as he hunched over with his eyes on the floor, a slight pout coming to his lips.

Resentment rolled off of Yami as his spirit left the puzzle and gave everyone in the room a glare to make Kaiba flinch, _//Let me take over.//_

_/Yami…/_

_//Please.//_

_/But you'll just be rude, I know you will./_

_//And?//_

_/And I don't want them to think I'm rude./_

_//Then tell them to stop staring, it's not like we're wearing anything abnormal. Just… Say something!//_

Charles Xavier hid a small smile of amusement. The shock on his student's faces at what the exchange student chose to wear was quiet funny. Truth be told, it did make him wonder. A boy as shy as Yugi wearing clothes that screamed 'Look at me, I'm Goth and I want you to know it!' seemed out of place. Rogue wore that all the time, so the bald man had gotten used to the idea of shy kids wearing that style of clothes. And for some reason, Xavier got the feeling that Yugi was talking to someone, although he couldn't hear any thoughts being sent from the boy. One thing Xavier did know is that if someone didn't break the ice, and soon, the institutes newest resident would most probably sink into the floor and never be seen or heard from again.

Rogue was the first to break the silence, "That shirt is gorgeous. Can I barrow it sometime?"

*****000*****

End Chapter Two.


	4. Chapter 3

**The Fourth "God"**

A Yu-Gi-Oh!/X-Men: Evolution crossover fic.

Written by Rogue Moon

"_J-Jonouchi… So you watched that video?"_

"_Yep. But y'know… I watched it like this! But I still couldn't make out the censored bits! Damn! All the good stuff was digitized out! I'll lend it to you sometime, you pervert!"_

"_Really?! Y-yes!"_

~Yugi and Katsuya, Duel Two: Lying Eyes (Manga)

*****000*****

Chapter Three

Dinner at the Institute consisted of long silences interspersed with nervous questions from the students to Yugi. Needless to say, all involved were relieved when they could finally go.

Jean took control of the situation afterward and showed Yugi around all the 'public' areas of the mansion. The small boy stayed silent most of the time, piping in every now and then with a question to clarify a slang phrase or two. The tour only took an hour, leaving two more before curfew would be enforced. This led to a dilemma about what to do for the rest of the night. A dilemma Evan solved by challenging Yugi to a duel in the Game Room.

Grinning wildly, the small boy told the others to wait and ran up to his room.

Evan looked at Jean, who looked confused, "He's probably getting his deck…"

Jean shrugged. She didn't care one way or the other as long as Evan kept his cool and didn't betray their secret.

Moments later, Yugi ran into the room. He stopped and caught his breath while leaning against the Foosball table. After taking a few deep breaths, he smiled at Evan and held up his deck, "If you will give me just one minute more, I will take Exodia from my deck to better even the odds."

Evan nodded 'go ahead' and pulled up two chairs to the card table and set his deck down to be cut whenever his opponent was ready.

Laying the five pieces of the Forbidden One to the side, Yugi then placed down his fusion deck and put his cards on the table to be cut. He let Evan's deck go as it was. The un-natural blond cut Yugi's deck and they flipped a coin to see who would go first. Evan won the toss.

Yugi won the duel three turns later.

The second duel lasted longer: it took four turns for Yugi to win.

It was at that moment, that Evan remembered he was facing the World Champion, _I'm so screwed._

*****000*****

The next morning was Sunday and most of the mansion slept in. At least that's what Ororo told Yugi to cover for the early morning Danger Room session the others were currently trying to survive. Instead of participating as she usually would, the graceful woman had a peaceful breakfast with the polite boy, then led him to Xavier's office and left him there to go over the formalities with the Professor.

Yugi bowed to the head of the school, "Good morning, Xavier-sama."

"Good morning, Mr. Motou," Charles replied, gesturing for Yugi to take a seat, then going on when the boy had gotten comfortable. "I hope last night wasn't too stressful. I apologize once again for not being able to see you when you arrived."

"It is all right, I am sure you are a busy man."

Xavier smiled, "Thank you for understanding. Now, we have some paperwork to go over and I am supposed to inform you about your school schedule and what will be required of you for the next two months. We'll start with what is expected of you here at the institute. Here at the Xavier Institute, we have the students pick one civilization and do research on it for one semester and a month before the end of the semester, each student does a presentation on whatever part of the civilization that interested them the most." Charles told a half truth, covering for later when Yugi might question about why everyone else was doing research on Egypt in their attempt to figure out what Mesmero would go after next. "This semester it is Egypt. I was informed by the program that you have already done extensive study in this area. Is this true?"

"Yes. My grandfather was an archaeologist and I learned a great deal from him as well as other sources."

_//Is that all I am to you? Another 'source'?//_ Yami teased in the back of Yugi's mind. _//And here I thought we had grown closer than that.//_

_/Yami, shut up./_

_//But my Hikari, you hurt my feelings//_ the darker-half whispered in mock-hurt. _//How can I ever trust in us again? I thought we were a team… but now I see you just think of me as a… a…SOURCE//_

_/Yami, why do you do this to me?/_

_//Because the man sitting in front of us is incredibly boring.//_

_/Then go explore or something. I have to sit through this and it would be a lot easier without you making fun of me. Where did you get that from anyway?/_

_//Katsuya.//_

_/Figures./_

Yami left the Puzzle in spirit form and gave Yugi a quick hug around the neck, then walked through the door on his way to investigate the already boring mansion. _//Maybe I can peak in at one of the sleeping girls…//_

_/Yami!/_

_//You told me to explore or something. I'm taking the second option.//_

_/When I get done with this…/_

_//Have fun.//_

"Then I look forward to seeing your presentation with everyone else's." Xavier replied, noting once again how the boy seemed to zone out and also getting the strange feeling that there was third person in the room. The feeling passed quickly, but it still disturbed the bald man. He made a quick mental notice to Wolverine, :: _Remember that feeling you got in the car yesterday? I just experienced it. Please do a quick search of the Mansion while I keep our guest busy. Let me know when you're done.::_ Logan sent back an affirmative. "Now, about the other courses you are required to take here at the Institute…"

*****000*****

Yami tucked his hands into his pockets and strolled down the hall. There was nothing for the spirit to do and he was tired of having to hide himself. So he became flesh. It was easier to touch things, feel textures when he was solid. He could do it in spirit form, but it took so much more concentration. And if he ran into any of the other residents, they'd just think 'Yugi' was taking a look around.

A loud electronic ping came from a corridor somewhere ahead of Yami, and he decided to check it out. He wasn't near the kitchen or the living room, so the sound couldn't be coming from the normal electronics. And during the tour, they hadn't passed anything in this area that could make that sound.

Logan stepped off the elevator, followed by Kurt and Jean. All of them had changed into civilian clothes to check around the mansion. Just in case one of Rogue or Bobby's friends had decided to show up early and let themselves in. It had happened before.

Logan looked at Jean and nodded to the left, then caught Kurt's' eye and indicated that the kid come with him. They wouldn't have to worry about running into the exchange student, or so they thought. It was more than a small shock when Yugi came around the corner, curiosity written all over his face.

The good part was that the elevator had already shut and its door was hidden. The bad part was that Kurt hadn't turned on his image inducer.

Yami came around the corner and spotted three people about halfway down the hall. Logan, Jean and someone that looked like a Duel Monsters card yet to be made. The three had looks of shock on their faces. Yami blinked and the scene still didn't changed. _//So I am not seeing things.//_

Kurt gulped and edged behind Jean, trying to hide himself. :: _I thought he was supposed to be with the Professor,_ :: he sent in a mental whisper to the redhead.

_::So did I,::_ she sent back and at the same time sent a question to Xavier. :: _Why didn't you tell us when Yugi left your office?::_

Charles' answer was a puzzled one, :: _What do you mean? He hasn't left my office.::_

_::Then why is he standing in front of us right now?::_

Logan sniffed the air and sent his own thought to Xavier, ::_Thought you were going to keep the runt with you while we searched.::_

_::He is with me. In fact he is sitting in front of me giving me a confused look because I stopped in the middle of a sentence and started staring off into space.::_

_::If he's with you, then how come he's standing in front of us. And it is him, I got his scent the other day and this one matches.::_

Yami shifted his feet and pulled his hands out of his pockets, crossing his arms over his chest as he tilted his head to one side, letting his mind analyze the scene in front of him. _//Hikari? There's something I think you should see.//_

_/Can it wait?/_

_//Possibly.//_

_/Then let it. I really have to get through this meeting, no matter what color pajamas the redhead wears./_

_//This isn't about sleepwear…//_

_/Yami, please…/_

_//Fine. I'll tell you about it later.//_ Yami visibly sighed and shook his head then walked toward the group.

Logan narrowed his eyes at the boy, he was acting strangely. When the kid started toward them, he shifted to better protect the two behind him. Kurt edged further behind Jean, his tail wrapping around her leg for comfort. The redhead clasped her hands behind her back and smiled in embarrassment.

Yami stopped a foot from them. He glanced down at Kurt's tail and a smirk formed on his lips. He opened his mouth to say something, but quickly shut it as he found himself at a loss for words. Giving up on speaking, he tilted his head to get a better look at the blue furry one. It was then he found his voice, "I thought Halloween happened in October? Was I wrongly informed?"

*****000*****

Charles Xavier frowned and studied the boy in front of him, who was starting to fidget slightly, "Would you care to accompany me for a moment? I just realized I have to check on something."

"Of course."

The bald man turned on his electric wheelchair and pushed himself away from and around his desk. Motoring himself to the door. Yugi followed, confused but wanting to be polite.

*****000*****

Logan gave the boy a curious glance, the kid's voice was different, deeper. No, not deeper; more confident. And now that he took the time to study the boy, there were other differences. The exchange student he had picked up had a very soft, round face. The boy in front of him had a more angular face, and looked older, more true to his age. His hair was slightly different, too. Strips of blond had been spiked up with the rest of his dark red hair. The day before, all of the blond had been kept separate from the rest of his spikes. And the kid wasn't wearing that weird pendant he had on yesterday.

Kurt nearly choked when Yugi spoke. His eyes going wide, he turned and met the exchange student's gaze, "I… um…"

A gasp from behind Yugi cut him off and grabbed his attention. At the end of the hall was the Professor and a very stricken Yugi. The Yugi in front of Kurt twirled around, his own violet eyes going wide. The twins spoke one word in unison, "Kuso!"

*****000*****

Kitty Pryde had wanted vary badly to call home and talk to the rest of the X-men, but because of time zones, she would have been calling in the middle of the night, her time. As it was, she ended up landing around three in the morning. She wasn't too sure because the layaway in Hawaii had taken longer than it should have.

The man she was staying with, one Mr. Sugoroku Motou, a short, gray-haired butterball with a kind smile, greeted her as she came off the plane. With him was a group of three kids her age, one of which she recognized as Katsuya Jonouchi, runner up of the Duel Monsters world tournament. The other two were a boy and a girl. The girl was her height and had shoulder length brown hair. Mr. Motou introduced her as Anzu Mazaki. The other boy was slightly taller than Katsuya, and his brown hair was buzz cut, except for his bangs, which he had spiked up. Mr. Motou introduced him as Hiroto Honda.

"It's, like, nice to meet you all," Kitty bobbed her head and smiled, then let out a yawn. "Oh, sorry, long trip."

Hiroto spazzed forward and took Kitty's bags, "Here, let me help you with those." He promptly tossed them to Jou, "Hold these, will ya?" and then held out his arm to the pretty brunette. "Allow me to escort you to the car."

Kitty giggled, covering her mouth with her hand and coyly placed her arm in Hiroto's. The guy was cute. Jonouchi scowled at his oldest friends back. Mr. Motou smiled and led the group outside.

Anzu came up to the other side of Kitty, "Jou, Honda and I are all in the same class at school. And since you'll be taking Yugi-chan's place, you'll be in the same class as us. I should warn you though, the classes aren't easy. I'm actually surprised Jou and Honda have made it as far as they have."

"Hey!" Hiroto and Katsuya yelled together, causing both girls to giggle.

Kitty grinned, "So do you guys all live together? Is that why you all came to meet me?"

Mr. Motou shook his head, "Not at all, these three are just very nice kids and friends of my grandson. He's the one you've exchanged with. Anzu, Katsuya and Hiroto all live at their own respective parents houses. Although, with how often they come to see Yugi, it's easy to believe otherwise. Ah, here's the car."

Mr. Motou waved to the Limo sitting in the airport drive, a man in a tuxedo holding the backseat door open.

Kitty's jaw dropped, "You have a Limo?"

"Actually, it's mine," Jonouchi answered, coming up from behind and handing Kitty's bags to the driver. "Jii-chan and Anzu don't have cars, and Hiroto's only transportation is his bike, so it was either this or begging Kaiba to be nice and I didn't want to deal with that."

The gray-haired butterball smiled, "Katsuya's a good boy. Although, I sometimes wish Yugi had kept that money…"

"Aw, Jii-chan… You know I'd give the rest of it back to Yugi if he'd let me."

"I know that Jou. Yugi is just too kind for his own good."

Kitty stayed quiet, not really sure how to respond and slightly confused about the subject of the conversation. She had only just met these people and it was kind of intimidating and exciting to be meeting the second, or was it third, best Duel Monsters player in the entire world. Finding out she was in the same class as the hottie, made Kitty really excited. However all of that couldn't override the fact that she was incredibly tired and had never been able to sleep on a plane.

Letting out another yawn, she let go of Hiroto's arm and climbed into the Limo. She scooted over to let the others in, then stretched out on the soft black leather and closed her eyes for a moment.

She didn't think she would fall asleep from that, but Anzu gently shaking her awake proved otherwise.

The brown-eyed girl smiled at kitty, "Time to wake up. We just got to Jii-chan's."

Kitty blinked and rubbed her eyes, "Did I fall asleep? I'm so sorry."

"It's okay. You had a long flight, and besides, Katsuya and Hiroto both fell asleep, too," Anzu replied, giggling slightly and pointing to the two sleeping boys on the seat across from them. The blond sprawled over his long-time friend, murmuring something about pizza. Hiroto snorted and shifted positions, kicking Katsuya in the head and causing a chain reaction of the two sleep fighting and wrestling each other. It was truly amazing to watch.

Laughing, Kitty climbed out of the Limo while she still could and found that the driver had already unloaded her bags from the trunk. She took a second to look around and see where they were. In front of them was a two story building, the bottom half housing a game shop while the top half was presumably for living in. Mr. Motou unlocked the front door and entered far enough to turn on the outside light, then came over and grabbed one of Kitty's bags.

Anzu waved at Kitty and Sugoroku, "See you tomorrow for school." The brown haired girl then climbed back inside the Limo and the car drove off.

Mr. Motou held the door open, "If you'll follow me, Ms. Pryde, I'll show you to your room."

Kitty grabbed her remaining two bags and entered the shop. It wasn't a big place, but from the looks of the well-worn floor and shelving, it was probably popular and prosperous. The gray haired butterball led Kitty to the back end of the shop and up a flight of stairs. At the top, a room, obviously the 'living' room, opened up with a hall exiting on one side. Mr. Motou led her down said hall and to the last door on the left. Smiling, he opened the door and set her bag inside.

"This is Yugi's room. I would have you stay in another one, but that would mean giving up mine. I hope you can live with my grandson's taste in decor. Since today is Sunday, I'll only be having the shop open for a few hours. Starting at noon. That should give you plenty of time to catch up on your sleep before any loud noises might wake you. The kitchen is downstairs, behind the door that is behind the counter. The bathroom is across the hall. When you get up, just come on downstairs and if I have no customers, we can sit down and go over the paperwork I was sent. Have a good rest." Mr. Motou turned around and went down the hall to the living room and then down the stairs.

Tossing her bags inside, Kitty entered what was now her bedroom and shut the door. The room was small, about a third of what she was used to, though it had a lot more personality. The rooms at the institute were so big that it was hard to decorate every inch to one's personal taste unless one had been living there for a few years.

Here, the room had an Egyptian/game theme. Somewhat fitting since the kid lived over a game shop. On the walls were posters for various video games and Duel Monsters. Under the single window was a small desk with a lamp. Sitting on the desk was a radio and a small stack of books. The one on the top of the pile was a reference on mazes and the making of. Against the wall and directly to the right of the desk was the bed. Its sheets were decorated in a 'Pop'-Egyptian pattern of lotus blossoms and hieroglyphics. The blanket was burnt orange with a large, gold Eye of Ra in the middle.

Against the opposite wall, the closet took up about half of the space, while a small entertainment center filled the rest. A 13-inch television with three different gaming consoles, including the newest Playstation system, took up the top half of the shelves there. The bottom half had board game after board game stacked along side a few CD and video racks.

A bookshelf stood to the right of the door, it's shelves filled with Chess pieces, pewter figurines, books on Egypt, books on various RPG's, and strangely enough, jewelry boxes. On top of the bookcase were a few completed 3D puzzles and two perfect Rubik's cubes.

"Kid must be a genius," Kitty muttered to herself and opened up the closet, revealing a large, recently cleared out space for her clothes. Deciding that putting her clothes up could wait, the exchange student kicked off her shoes and tucked herself into the very inviting bed. When Jii-chan checked up on her a minute later, the girl was already fast asleep, fully clothed.

*****000*****

Logan growled low in his throat and got ready to pop his claws, it was obvious, at least to him, that Mystique, the local shape shifter, was trying to infiltrate their base once more. Too bad the Japanese kid had to find out about them so soon. The only bad thing, was that Mystique was so close to the professor. The Yugi closest to Logan had to be the real one, since he smelled right.

Yugi panicked. Plain and simple, he panicked. Which for him, meant that he ran to the nearest safe zone. At the moment, said safe zone was Yami. Yami, too leapt forward, meeting his light halfway and pulling him into a hug.

"Don't punish Yugi. It's not his fault I stowed away," the darker half shouted as he tucked Yugi into his chest, vainly trying to protect his light from the others with the excuse they had agreed on should it ever be discovered he existed.

Logan had been ready to skewer 'Mystique' when she made the bold move of running **toward** the mutants and Yugi. He stopped in his tracks as the look-alikes ran to each other and covered their butts.

Yugi clung to Yami, shutting his eyes tightly, "Please! Don't send me back! Or Yami! We just didn't want to be separated!"

"It's not his fault, I swear. If you're going to punish someone, punish me!" Yami joined in the yelling, wanting to keep his light safe, Yugi's panic affecting him.

Yugi started to yell once more, but was interrupted by the Professor, "No one is going to be punished. Calm down."

The twins gave Xavier a skeptical look, but shut up to listen.

Glad that he had their attention, the bald man continued, "Now why don't we go to the Lounge and you two can explain everything. Jean?"

"Yes, Professor?"

"Please… wake the others and tell them to meet in the Lounge. And Kurt?"

The blue furry one gulped and walked forward, "Yes?"

"Take off that costume. You can attempt to scare Bobby later." ::_That should cover for you, hm?::_

"Yes, Professor." ::_Thank you.::_

_::No problem.::_

Charles turned his wheelchair around and headed for the Lounge, followed by two very guilty looking twins and one really angry Wolverine.

*****000*****

It took about ten minutes for everyone, sans one furry science teacher, to gather in the Lounge and by then, Kurt had gotten out of his 'Halloween' costume.

The room was of a good size, having a fireplace on one side, and an entrance to the gardens opposite the main doors. In the middle of the room were two dark green couches that faced each other and were separated by a low coffee table. On the couch closest to the door, the X-Men sat, slightly shocked at the sight in front of them.

On the couch opposite the children, sat Yugi and his twin. The two were sitting extremely close to each other. So close, in fact, that Yugi's twin had an arm around Yugi and the slightly smaller boy was leaning against his 'brothers' chest. They were dressed exactly the same, save that Yugi had the weird pendant and his twin didn't.

Charles smiled at the two, trying to put them at ease, and only succeeding in the opposite. "Would one of you care to explain this, please?"

Yugi locked eyes with his twin and after a moment looked down with a sigh. The darker one spoke first, "My name is… Yami. I am… well…"

"We are twins," Yugi murmured and ran one of his hands over Yami's chest, absently making circles.

Logan snorted, "That's obvious. Care to tell us why you're both here?"

Yami gave the older man a glare, and surprisingly, the Canadian backed up a step. The spirit smirked and looked down at his light, running a hand gently through Yugi's hair, "Yugi got picked for the exchange program. But he was the only one who could go. We had only one ticket. So I stowed away. We do not like being separated."

Yugi shifted in Yami's arms, turning himself so his head was in Yami's lap and he was looking up at his dark, "Yami and I… well… We do not like to be apart. I let him into my room last night before dinner. He was supposed to stay there."

The twins' fingers intertwined almost lazily, as if they didn't even realized they had. A faint smile traced Yami's lips and he continued for the pair, "But I was bored inside my… room. I just wanted to explore a little. And Yugi was supposed to be in the meeting. So if anyone else ran across me, they would think I was him."

Yugi sighed and glanced over at the group for the first time since they had started talking, "Yami was supposed to stay inside while I went to school and then if he wanted to take my place for a few hours afterwards, he would. Just to get out and stretch a little. It would be hard to do, and we figured you would find out eventually, just not this soon."

Logan didn't like the glare Yami had given him. It was hard to explain why, but it actually un-nerved him, set him on edge. And he had had a lot of glares sent his way, he was used to it. :: _Something about that kid Chuck. I don't know what, but there is something not right about that kid.::_

Xavier steepled his fingers together and eyed the boys. The way they interacted with each other was not the normal way siblings, even very close ones, interacted. Perhaps Ororo had been right in suggesting that Yugi had 'grown up on the streets'. If that were true, and the only one Yugi could count on was his brother, and vise versa, then it would account for how 'close' they were. Xavier sighed and leaned back, "You have put me in quite the situation, young Mr. Motou. And the other Mr. Motou. 'Dark Game' indeed…"

Scott shot the Professor a puzzled look, "Dark game?"

Logan 'tapped' the kid on the back of his head, "Their names. If you paid attention in Languages, you'd know that their names, 'Yami' and 'Yugi' are the Japanese words for 'Dark' and 'Game'."

Scott rubbed his head and frowned, "Oh."

Xavier smiled and shook his head, "At least we know about you, now. No. I will not have you sent back, that would only ruin Kitty's experience. And since Yugi is the only one required to take any classes at Bayville High, he will be the only one the school board knows of. However, I expect you to contact your Guardian in Japan and tell him or her what is going on. And Yami will have to take classes here at the institute while Yugi takes his at the high school."

Yami scowled. It was a good scowl, one he had perfected over five millennia while he resided in the Puzzle. There wasn't a lot to do in the Puzzle. So he had learned to make really effective faces. One of them was a scowl. It was a good scowl. And all it got him was a scolding from Yugi.

"Don't even make that face, Yami-chan," the violet eyed boy muttered in Japanese, sitting up and stretching. "You knew this was a possibility if we got caught."

Yami turned his scowl on Yugi and replied in ancient Egyptian, a language no one but the two halves knew, "I am a Pharaoh. I should not have to do school work. And watch what language you speak in. Logan knows Japanese and so do some of the students. If you want to talk to me in private without using our bond, then use Egyptian."

Yugi rolled his eyes and replied in kind, "Fine. Now stop making faces. If you do that long enough, your face could stick that way. And you wouldn't want that. And besides, Pharaohs had to take lessons, too."

"Who told you that?"

"You did," Yugi replied in English and stood up, pulling on Yami's arm. "Now get up. We have a meeting with Xavier-sama to finish."

"No, you have a meeting to finish. Remember, I'm not the exchange student."

Charles moved himself to the door, "No, you're not. So you can contact your Guardian and inform said person about the situation." To Logan he sent a quick thought, :: _Any idea what language they were speaking just a minute ago?::_

_::Not a one. First it was Japanese, but the second one I've never heard. It was kind of Arabic sounding. Ask Ororo.::_

_::She doesn't know either, although she did say it sounded familiar. Perhaps she will remember sometime later.::_

Logan growled to himself,_ ::Why aren't you punishing them more?::_

_::Didn't you hear them? They said the Yami snuck into the institute. I want to find out how when we have been on full security. If anyone tried to enter without going through the front gates, we should have been immediately informed. And besides, they do not act… they act strangely. I am curious about that and also would like to know why they both have the same scent. Even twins don't have the same scent. You should know that, There is more to those two than meets the eye. They maybe mutants after all…::_

_::I thought Cerebro would have picked up their bio signatures.::_

_::So did I… But computers have been known to malfunction.::_

*****000*****

End Chapter Three


	5. Chapter 4

**The Fourth "God"**

A Yu-Gi-Oh!/X-Men: Evolution crossover fic.

Written by Rogue Moon

"_Professor Xavier is a jerk! "_

~Katherine Pryde, X-Men # 168

*****000*****

Chapter Four

The rest of Sunday passed without event and so Monday came around with Yami full of worry. He sincerely wished he could piggyback in the Puzzle like he did when Yugi went to school in Domino. But he couldn't, not if they wanted to keep their secret. What made it worse was that Yami would be taking classes at the Institute. One on one courses since he was the only resident who was not going to Bayville High during the day. And he had to behave and not disappear halfway through a lecture.

Yugi woke up that morning and had Yami come out of the puzzle. The spirit appeared wearing exactly what his light was. In this case: a pair of underwear.

Yami scowled, "We could have gotten dressed before I came out."

"And how would we explain that?" Yugi asked, digging through the dresser, "Both of us always wearing the same thing, but only one set of clothes in the laundry? Here." The light tossed Ryou's gift to Yami. "Put these on."

The spirit pulled on the leather pants, grumbling to himself. The gift had been surprising and completely out of the norm. For Ryou. The leather pants were black and very shiny, with a metal loop at the bottom of each belt loop and at regular intervals down the outside seems. The pants were also surprising soft. They must have cost a fortune, and after seeing them, Yugi and Yami realized why Ryou had run away like he did. He had been embarrassed.

Yugi pulled out a pair of leather pants for himself and a black tank for Yami. He chose a sleeveless, white, hooded shirt for himself. It was something Malik Ishtar had given them for his birthday. And only because his sister, Ishizu, had insisted. While Yugi was putting on his shirt, Yami claimed the single pair of shoes with buckles and pulled out their pair of ankle boots with the one-inch heels for Yugi. As the boy wasn't even five foot tall, he liked the added height, even if it was only a little.

With the shoe situation taken care of, Yugi tossed two belts to Yami and claimed the thickest two for himself. One went around his waist and the other hung on his hips. The one on the hips had his deck case. His deck went in automatically. Then it was time for jewelry. Yugi had wanted to dress conservatively, at least on the first day, but Yami had insisted that he dress to impress himself. No matter what people thought, if he liked what he was wearing, than nothing else mattered. It had taken about two seconds for the light to give in, so here he was putting on their gold armbands and of course, one of the studded neck collars. Yami wore a second one. They both put on a pair of wrist cuffs and some gold bracelets. One ankh shaped earring went into their left ears, while simple gold hoops went into the right. Last, but not least came the rings Yami enjoyed.

When all that was finished, Yugi threw his brown book bag over one shoulder and tied his blue school jacket around his waist. If he needed it, he could put it on without much hassle.

The two halves were now ready for school.

Then Yugi's stomach growled. Blushing, he led Yami down to the kitchen.

There were three people in the kitchen when the twins arrived. Ororo glanced over, acknowledging their presence, then went back to fixing her eggs. Scott had his back to the door and Bobby waved with his right hand while his left snatched the paper from Scott.

"Hey! I was reading that!" the 'boy scout' protested, grabbing the paper back.

"Aw, come on. I just want the funnies…"

Scott shook his head and tossed the section to the brown haired boy, he nodded at Yugi and Yami as they sat down, and went back to an article on mutants.

Bobby grinned and leaned over to the twins, "You guys want breakfast hot or… cold?"

Scott looked up, "Bobby…"

The prankster ignored his field leader, "Mrs. Munroe will probably cook you up some eggs if you ask nice, but if you want some cereal, I can show you were it is…"

The violet eyed light smiled, "That would be very nice, Bobby-san. Cereal sounds fine."

The darker one nodded his ascent and glanced around the room. Spotting the television, he got up, turned it on, grabbed the remote and went back to his seat. Bobby, meanwhile, showed Yugi where the bowls and cereal were kept. The small boy had the prankster get down a double sized bowl and the box of Marshmallow Puffs. He pulled out two spoons and put them in the bowl, then filled it with cereal. After placing the bowl on the table and pouring the milk, he handed one spoon to Yami and they both started to eat from it. The darker one paying rapt attention to the news while Yugi purposely ignored it.

The lighter half disliked news. He could watch any movie, no matter how violent or scary or completely gory. But the news was different. It was real. As Yami was his darker half, the spirit found the news hypnotizing. He also thought that movies and other such fakery, unless a reenactment, not worth the film it was printed on.

"…And in other news, the issue of mutants and whether or not they should be allowed in public schools, has once again been brought before the Senate." The newscaster read off, catching the attention of everyone in the kitchen, save Yugi. "This issue has been brought before the Senate before this and it was decided at the time to allow mutants to attend public schools as a probationary experiment. This was decided, of course, after the mutant group known as the X-Men where found to be going to school and possibly endangering their community in upstate New York last spring. Councilman John Bryceman has once again brought up the issue, pushing for mutants to be kept out of public schools. And…" the television was turned off by an upset Yami, Scott and Bobby reluctantly going back to their articles.

"John Bryceman, aha-tha aa," the spirit muttered loudly, stabbing his spoon into the bowl of Marshmallow Puffs.

Yugi spit out the bite he had just taken, "Yami!"

The rest of the room stopped what they were doing and gave the twins puzzled looks.

"ptra?"

"That was not called for!"

The darker one snorted, "Did you even listen to it?"

"No, but I'm sure it wasn't worth calling him that," Yugi replied, becoming suddenly doubtful on the subject of weather or not the man could be considered a …'donkey.'

Yami's shoulders sagged and he let out a very exasperated sigh, lapsing into Japanese, "I wish you would listen to the news. This Bryceman was bringing up the subject of pro-segregation once again."

Ororo smiled to herself and contacted the Professor, ::_You have got to hear this._::

Xavier always kept an 'ear' open for his colleagues and students, ::_And what is that?_::

::_Just listen through my ears._::

Yugi frowned, "Why would he do that?"

"Because he, like many people, think that these so-called mutants are a danger to the world and the values of everyday people. You know, the way blacks were a danger thirty or forty years ago here in America."

"That's stupid. Blacks weren't a threat then, and they aren't now. They are regular people like everyone else."

"Exactly. Only Bryceman is now turning that same feeling propagated then onto mutants now."

"How do you know so much about this?"

"Remember back at the Duel Monsters world championship? When we were asked about what we thought of mutants?" the spirit paused, letting Yugi think back and nod when he remembered. "Afterwards, I took the time to study what material was available on the matter. It's part of why I was so eager to come with you on this trip. Apparently, the most well known group of mutants, the 'X-Men' reside near here. Although, who their real identities are, my information sources couldn't find out. That's classified. It's a fascinating subject really. Almost as engrossing as magic."

Yugi froze, spoon halfway to his mouth. "Yami! That was supposed to be a secret!" he hissed, kicking his dark in the shins.

"Oh, yes, they can understand every word we say. As Katsuya would say: NOT! The only one who can understand us is Munroe-san. And she doesn't seem to care that we dabble in magic." _//She probably thinks we're talking about slight of hand.//_

Ororo nodded to the twins and finished eating her eggs, ::_So, what do you think?_::

::_I believe we may not have to keep our secret, so… secret. They both seem very open minded. Watch Yami today and test the waters. If it looks promising, then perhaps we can put it to a vote. I'm sure Kurt would like to hide for as little as possible._::

::_Sounds fine to me. I'll contact you later._:: the weather witch replied and dropped her connection to Xavier.

Rogue walked in while the twins looked to be having something of a glaring contest. She smiled politely at them for about two second before her attention was totally focused on Scott. It made her heart thump just a little bit faster when she watched him read the paper and that little line formed on his brow. It was so cute. "So, Scott," She started in, wanting something, anything, to talk to the field leader about, "do you think today's English test will be easy? What with it being over Beowulf and all?"

Scott looked up, his mouth full of cereal, and attempted to say, "What test?" Milk and bits of chewed fiber spilled out and he had to lower his head so it would all go back in the bowl. Wiping his mouth with a napkin, he raised his head to see everyone attempting not to laugh and not doing a very good job, either. He cleared his throat, trying to save some dignity, "What test?"

"Hel~lo?" Rouge replied unintentionally as part of Kitty's speech wormed its way out, "Only the test we were told about on Friday. On the first two parts of Beowulf? Does that sound familiar?"

Scott shook his head 'no'.

Rogue rejoiced inside, and rolled her eyes outside, "Tell you what, you can barrow my notes until lunch, and we can go over them together then. That way we both get a refresher before class. Is that cool?"

Scott grinned, "Sounds great! I can't believe I forgot about that. I guess I was just so worried about Kitty and Yugi and everything."

Rogue shrugged non-committedly, "Everyone has an off day." Her inner self was shrieking and hugging her inner Kitty as both celebrated. Her inner Kitty, unlike the real one, thought that Scott and Rogue made a cute couple.

"Speaking of classes," Bobby interrupted, "What one's do you have, Yugi?"

The boy tore his attention away from breakfast and Yami and started to count his classes on his fingers, "Um, I have Homeroom, World Religions, Physics, Trigonometry, Lunch, English…um…" Yugi stopped to think, trying to remember the right English words for the next class.

Yami, meanwhile, reached into Yugi's bag and pulled out the list. "Physical Torment 101," he filled in as he handed to paper to Yugi.

"Oh, right," the light murmured. "How could I forget." As athletic as Yugi had gotten, he was still very small and still very much a target for bullies, especially during Gym class. "Gym."

Ororo laughed outright at Yugi's tone, so full of distain and the bite of doom. "I take it you don't like Gym?"

Yami raised an eyebrow, "Don't like Gym? That, Munroe-san, is an understatement. It is very easy to get injured in that class."

"Injuries from large, tall, big muscled bullies," Yugi added, starting up their habit of finishing thoughts for each other out loud. Katsuya said it was disturbing whenever they did it around him because of the way their voices blended.

Yami shook his head and sighed, "Gym is not a…"

"Favorite class," Yugi frowned. "Normally I just say in the…"

"Room and work on a…"

"Puzzle or two. I like puzzles and…"

"Games. They keep my mind occupied and…"

"Off the fact that I'm not all that…"

"Strong. Although, watching the girls play…"

"Basketball and volleyball isn't so bad."

Both boys grinned and leaned forward as if in conspiracy and spoke as one, "The girls' uniform at my school has a skirt."

Bobby snickered and Scott smirked. Rogue whapped the first on the back of the head and glared at the second. Ororo rolled her eyes, she was used to immature boys.

Bobby ignored the quick pain and headed out the door to grab his book bag from his room, "I'll have to remember that next time some of the guys don't want any girls to play."

*****000*****

Logan, Ororo, and Professor Xavier saw Yugi and the others off to school at the front door, giving Yami the single unobserved moment he needed to shift into spirit form and get a secure hold on the back of the jeep Jean was driving. He had decided not to stay around for the day. He wanted to go explore the town and since Yugi was in Scott's convertible, which was in front of the Jeep, he wouldn't notice what Yami was doing. The spirit gave a mock salute to the three at the doors of the institute and grinned evilly as the cars moved out.

It took about ten minutes for the convoy to get to the school, and another fifteen for Yami to walk into downtown Bayville unnoticed. When he got to a fairly unused and unobserved alley, he made himself material and checked the time at a nearby café. By his calculations it would take at least another hour of searching for the teachers at the institute to figure out he wasn't anywhere on the premises. So he had a while before he had to watch his back for anyone looking for him. Smiling to himself, he headed south along some busy street, picking the route at random.

*****000*****

:: _Logan?_ :: Xavier sent to his old friend, :: _Please come down to Dr. McCoy's Lab._ ::

:: _Coming, Chuck._ :: the Canadian replied, cursing again at his inability to find the more disturbing of the twins. It had been over an hour since everyone else had left for school and the stowaway had made himself scarce. The thing that frustrated Logan the most was that he couldn't track the boy by his scent. The twins smelled exactly alike and intermingled so much it was impossible for the man to untangle the boy's location. Logan was really starting to dislike the kid.

It took him maybe five minutes to get to Hank's lab. When he did, he got quite a shock. There on the monitors was a shot of Yami disappearing from sight. A one-minute loop that kept repeating the scene in every spectrum possible in current science. And on every one of them he was there one moment and gone the next. As if he had never existed.

"It seems," Ororo said with a wry smile, "that he has a reason for being sympathetic to mutants."

Logan raised an eyebrow and lighted a cigar, "What do you mean?"

"Hank? Could you bring up this mornings' kitchen session?"

The blue fur ball pushed his glasses back up his nose and began typing, "Of course. Anything for the beautiful Goddess of the Winds."

Ororo smiled, "Flattery will get you no where."

"What flattery? I thought that was your title."

"Only in Central Africa, my friend."

"Forgive me. Ah, here it is. What would you like to see?"

"Bring it up to when our guests entered."

The video fast-forwarded to just after the twins sat down, Logan studying the two boys with the eyes of a hunter. Their conversation played through and Logan had Hank set those few minutes on repeat, "That makes sense, but something confuses me."

Xavier titled his head to one soda, "And what would that be?"

"What Yami said. He 'took the time to study what material was available on the matter' and thought it was 'a fascinating subject'. As if he had never heard of mutants before that."

"Perhaps he didn't realize there were others like himself?"

"Maybe. Think Yugi's a mutant, too?"

"Most likely, they are twins," Charles replied, rolling his chair closer to the screens. "Scott and Alex aren't twins and they are both mutants. Sam and Tabitha are not twins and they are both mutants and some of their siblings will probably come into power when they hit puberty. In fact, they probably share an ability and even limited telepathy with each other. People who are close often gain a bit of telepathy with each other, even non-mutants."

Ororo stopped the loop and brought the tape to when the boys were talking for each other, "That would explain this disturbing bit."

Xavier furrowed his brow and thought for a long minute, "If you were a sixteen year old boy and you wanted to get out of doing school work, where would you go?"

Logan put out his cigar, "I'd go into town. Ro? Could you do a pattern over the city while I take the streets?"

"Consider it done."

*****000*****

Three hours had now passed with Yami barely keeping out of sight of Logan for the past one and a half. The spirit had first spotted the man on a motorcycle just after he finished browsing through a comic store. He should have been able to shake the short man right then and there, but the Canadian kept popping up. It was like he could track his scent.

Yami was currently in a dimly lit pool hall filled with smoke. On the off chance that Logan really was tracking him like a dog, then his current environment should throw the man off. The spirit headed over to the bar and sat as far from the door as possible.

The bartender nodded his head at the door, "We can't serve you, you should leave."

"All I want is some water. It is hot outside," Yami replied, attempting the puppy dog eyes Yugi had taught him.

The man chewed on his cigarette for a moment then shrugged and poured him a glass, "Water won't kill ya."

"Thank you."

The bartender left and a moment later a man who should have had better things to do with his time and a woman too beautiful to be all-natural approached. The man grinned, "Well look what we have here. A little punk just out of diapers. Move it, shrimp, you're in my seat." The woman giggled and held tighter on the man's arm.

Yami gave the man a glare, "Are you really so inane as to want this seat when there are twenty open?"

"It's MY seat."

"I'll take that as a yes," Yami rolled his eyes and got up, not really wanting a fight. Finishing his glass of water, he headed back outside. He hadn't gotten three steps before the man grabbed the back of his shirt and spun him around. The man then pushed Yami against the bar, getting real close as his girlfriend giggled some more.

"You think you're smart, shrimp?" the man asked, a smirk of amusement on hip lips.

"I know I am," Yami replied. He wasn't in the mood for a fight, but who was he to deny another pleasure?

The man laughed and turned to his girl, sticking his thumb at Yami, "You hear that, Dumpling? Kid thinks he's smart!"

'Dumpling' giggled some more. The spirit was starting to think that's all she did.

The man turned back to Yami, pushing against the boy's chest until he was flush against the bar, "You aren't smart. If you were you'd know that little kids shouldn't try and mingle with grownups."

Yami smiled a small, yet exceedingly disturbing smile and locked eyes with the man, "Play with me."

*****000*****

Logan cursed again. He had gotten Yami's scent, only to lose it in a crowded store. He had caught it again a half-hour later at an ice cream parlor vacated only minutes before. Five more times, the mutant had caught the kid's scent only to lose it. It was like the boy knew he was being followed. Heck, he probably did. But not even Sabertooh was this good at losing him when Logan put his mind to tracking something or someone.

Ororo last reported catching sight of the boy at the Ice Cream parlor minutes before Logan arrived, but had lost him as he went into a large shopping area. Too many people had made him hard to track if she wanted to remain unseen, and she did.

Logan growled and headed back into downtown to check the stores that would most likely appeal to a sixteen-year-old boy. And since his power was disappearing, that probably meant one of the two strip joints in town.

The radio fuzzed in just as he started his bike. Ororo's voice came through calm and clear, "I found him. He just entered a pool hall on tenth and grand. I'll be entering shortly."

Logan growled again, "Keep him there. I know that place. Make sure he doesn't get in trouble. Wolverine out."

"Affirmative, Storm out."

Logan slammed his helmet on and grumbled to himself, "I told Larry he shouldn't open so early…"

*****000*****

Yugi blew out air, attempting to make the bangs in front of his face move as way to alleviate the boredom he felt as the Trigonometry teacher droned on and on and on…

The Day hadn't started out too badly. When he got to school, he was escorted to his homeroom and introduced after class began. Most people snickered at his size and some of the girls passed him notes about his jewelry. Apparently it was unheard of for a boy to wear so much real gold. The class went by fairly quick.

His second class was World History. He made quite a buzz when the teacher called on him to tell what he knew about World War II. Yugi's reply had been simple: People died. The teacher hadn't found that very satisfactory but the other students thought it was hilarious and several passed notes to him about wanting to talk at lunch. If only he had been this popular at home…

Yugi's third class was Physics. It wasn't too difficult, he had already been through the subject being covered.

And now he was stuck in boring Trig. _/I wonder what Yami's doing?/_

*****000*****

The man gave Yami a 'You have to be kidding' look. Yami kept grinning, "Play a game, that is. Unless, of course, you don't think you're smart enough…?"

The man glared, "Fine. I'll play, and when I'm done, I'll beat your face in."

"Then let us adjourn to the alley. That way, no one will see you beat my face in."

"Sounds good to me," The man released Yami and headed outside. "Com'on Dumpling. You Like watching me smash things. And after I'm done with that, we can take him home and you can have a new pony to ride." 'Dumpling' giggled and followed with Yami not two steps behind.

Just before exiting, he turned to the bartender, "You might want to check your garbage later. Those two painted pieces of trash will probably take up a lot of space." Then he walked outside and around the corner. He didn't notice the white haired woman crossing the street.

When he got far enough down the alley, the man from the bar grabbed Yami by the collar and pushed him against the brick wall. "Now what kind of game is this?"

Yami's smiled hadn't left his face, "A simple one. You have to solve my riddle. If you do, then you may do as you wish to me. I'll even give you three guesses. But if you can't, or if you try and cheat by beating me up, then the Penalty Game will decide your fate."

The man put Yami down and looked over at 'Dumpling'. They both started to laugh and the man crossed his arms, "Okay, shoot."

Yami crossed his arms as well and recited:

"The snake can't ever make them.

The shark he never tries.

The eagle prefers not to,

And so away he flies.

And yet one can always find them

In many climes and lands.

A man himself can make them,

But never with his hands."

Then man stood there and his jaw dropped, "Say what?"

"That is my riddle. You have three tries to solve it."

'Dumpling' wrapped her arm around the man's waist and whispered in his ear. He shook his head no and they started a quiet, hissed argument.

*****000*****

Ororo crossed the street and contacted Logan as she looked down the alley where Yami was standing with two adults, "Wolverine? He left the bar and is currently in the alley closest to it. He's not alone, either."

Logan's voice fuzzed in, "Who's with him?"

"Two poorly dressed people. I can take them out easily."

"Wait 'til I get there. Unless they're attacking him."

"No, they are not."

"Then wait a minute or two more, I'm almost there. Wolverine out."

"Storm out."

*****000*****

The man shook his girlfriend off, "Jewelry. The answer is jewelry."

Yami held up one finger, "One wrong answer down, two to go. Try again."

"Then it's money."

"Wrong again. One answer to go."

The man balled up his fists, "Screw this, I'm going to beat your living daylights out of you." That said he swung at Yami. 'Dumpling' rushed at him, too, trying to get him by surprise.

The spirit dodged and jumped back, closer to the alley's entrance. He shook his head and tsked, "Your insecurities and depravities are your undoing. If only you had put some thought into the riddle, you could have solved it easily. But instead, you chose to try and cheat. For that you must play the Penalty Game."

A golden eye appeared on Yami's forehead and the two backed away, suddenly feeling less confident in themselves.

Yami held out his right hand, pointing at them, "PENALTY GAME! PRIDE! The illusion of grandeur!"

The golden eye expanded and rushed at the two, who were too shocked to run. When the light cleared, the lovers were pulling cardboard boxes and bags of trash to themselves. The woman going on about the soft furs idiots just toss out and the man mumbling about all the fame he was getting from a hit record album and wouldn't this gold record look great on the wall of the white house? After all, in his mind, he had just won the election.

Yami shoved his hands in his pockets, pleased with his work and headed out of the alley, "For the record, the answer was 'footprints'."

He got two feet from the entrance when he was once again shoved against the wall. This time, by a very angry Logan, "What the hell did you just do?"

Yami just glared at the Canadian, upset at being caught and very worried about what might happen to Yugi.

Logan narrowed his eyes and pulled him out of the alley and towards his bike, "If you won't answer me, then maybe you'll spill to Chuck."

"What about those people?" Ororo asked, coming up and sitting on the very back of the bike so Yami would be between her and Logan.

The small man thought for a moment and then headed into the bar. A few minutes later he walked back out and got on the bike, "Larry'll take care of 'em for a day or two, but that's it. He didn't try anything, did he?"

Ororo shook her head no. She had half expected Yami to try and run, but he hadn't. He sat in front of her and did nothing.

Logan mounted and Yami wrapped his arms around the man's waist. He had no good reason to try and run and one very good reason to go with the two. And that reason was Yugi's safety.

*****000*****

End Chapter Four

The riddle used is not mine. That was found in the book Lair of the Sphinx: A Riddle Book copyright 1999, Cloud Kingdom Games, Inc. page 65

'-san' is the Japanese equivalent of 'sir' or 'madam'; '-kun' and '-chan' are suffixes to show endearment.


	6. Chapter 5

**The Fourth "God"**

A Yu-Gi-Oh!/X-Men: Evolution crossover fic.

Written by Rogue Moon

"_Those who trespass in others' souls… will always get burned in the end!"_

~Yam no Yugi, Duel Six: Into the Fire (Manga)

*****000*****

Chapter Five

When they got to the institute, Logan took Yami by the arm and pulled him into the building, heading straight for Professor Xavier's office. The spirit didn't fight the short man, but came along quietly, a complete lack of emotion on his face.

Ororo went ahead to open the door for them and Logan pushed Yami inside then took a seat on the brown leather couch nearest the door, just in case the boy decided to try and bolt. Ororo walked to the other side of the room and stood next to Xavier.

Charles smiled and waved a hand at the chairs in front of his desk, "Please, have a seat."

Yami crossed his arms and didn't say anything, simply looking at the bald man.

"Or not," Xavier leaned back and steepled his fingers. "Care to explain why you ran off like that?"

Silence.

"Or perhaps explain _how_ you ran off like that?"

More silence.

Charles picked up a remote that had been laying on his desk and turned on the television located on the side of the door opposite Logan. The news started to blare, but the Professor quickly changed the channel. There was no sound now except for the light electronic hum all appliances made. Xavier put down the remote, "I think you'll find this program interesting."

Yami cocked his head to one side and glanced at the screen. His glance turned in to a stare as he saw himself disappearing over and over again in the entrance of the mansion. He hadn't thought they would catch that. He hadn't given thought to the possibility of being filmed. But now that he did think about it, it made sense for the school to have cameras everywhere. With so many privately funded students living here, high security was needed to assure parents that their children would be safe.

Xavier and Ororo were both mildly surprised when Yami took his gaze from the television and went back to staring at Charles as if he hadn't been caught. Logan had seen enough not to be surprised by anything the kid did.

The spirit broke his eye contact with Xavier a second later and looked around the office for the first time. Bookshelves lined one of the walls while a private elevator stood opposite them. Behind Xavier was a small picture window with shelves below it. On the shelves were small odds and ends. The collection of Rubix cubes caught Yami's attention. Of the eight, only one was solved. Ignoring everyone, the boy wandered over to the collection and picked one of the puzzles up.

Logan readied himself to jump on the kid if he tried to do anything to Xavier. But he didn't. He just stood there clicking away with the Rubix cube, all attention seemingly focused on the game. About thirty seconds later, Yami put the now solved puzzle down and picked up the next. Yami was giving himself some time to think and take in just what their reactions to his disappearing act meant.

Five minutes passed as everyone watched the small boy solve cube after cube until all were lined up on the shelf with yellow sides facing out. The spirit then piled six of them in pyramid formation, with the other two flanking it on either side. When he was done, he looked out the window, the fingers of his right hand touching the glass lightly, and smirked, "You don't seem… freaked out, I believe the phrase is, by what I did on the film. Why is that?"

"You expressed an interest to meet other mutants earlier this morning," Xavier stated. Then continued, holding out his hand when Yami nodded 'yes', "Hello, my name is Professor Charles Xavier, a fellow mutant. A telepath."

This took Yami by surprise. For a while, no one paid attention how long, Yami stood staring wide-eyed at Charles while the bald man kept his hand out in welcome.

The spirit's mind was whirling. So, they thought he was a mutant because of his abilities? And the professor was a mutant as well? That meant… his and Yugi's secret was still safe. They didn't associate his disappearing act with magic or legends of ancient power…

In the end, Yami took the offered hand and pumped it once, "My name is… Yami. I can… disappear."

Ororo held out her hand and waited until Yami took it to speak, "My name is Ororo Munroe and I can control the weather around me."

Xavier nodded his head at Logan, who waved two fingers when Yami looked at him, "That is Logan, he has enhanced senses, an ability to heal fast, and a rather impressive set of claws."

"Now that we're all introduced and in the open," Logan started, lighting a cigar, "Care to tell us what you did to those two in the alley?"

Xavier gave his friend a puzzled look and the two met eyes for a moment. Then Xavier broke the contact and raised a eyebrow at Yami, "What was that?"

The spirit's eyes went hard and for three of the occupants a feeling of great malevolence almost physical in its intensify filled the room. The feeling passed quickly, but still left the adults with shivers down their spine.

Yami shrugged and acted as if he hadn't noticed anything, "I gave them what they deserved. I have some telepathic abilities and with what they were planning on doing, it was a fitting punishment. In fact, for them, it is a blessing. They'll be happy for the rest of their lives and never harm anyone again."

Xavier frowned, "Using one's powers like that is wrong. It is an invasion in the persons mind, something I'm sure you wouldn't like."

"The golden rule? Do unto others and all that?" Yami scoffed, "They trespassed on many a soul before they tried to trespass on mine. They had their chance. I gave them the choice of playing and outlined all the rules. If they had solved my riddle, they could have done what they wanted to me. They chose to play and to cheat. I told them cheating would get them punished and it did."

"I will not stand for you punishing others while you are here at this school," Charles replied, his voice brooking no argument. "That is one of the rules you must follow, understood?"

The spirit really didn't care, there was no one at the institute he could think of that might deserve to play a Shadow Game. He shrugged,"Agreed."

"Good. What riddle did you pose them?"

Yami repeated it and Charles thought for a moment afterward, "The answer is footsteps, correct?"

"Yes."

"How about we go meet the fourth teacher of this school? His name is Dr. Henry McCoy and he is very different from the rest of us. His mutation gives him enhanced agility and strength, but it also gives him quite the fur coat," Charles said as Ororo rolled him over to his elevator and waited for Logan and Yami to join them, "And I think you'll find our recreational facilities interesting."

*****000*****

Yugi spent most of lunch just watching the way most of the students at the school avoided the students from the institute and therefore him. Probably because he was sitting with them, but it was like he and Kurt and Bobby didn't exist. Rogue and Scott were off drilling each other for the English quiz and Jean was hovering over Scott's shoulder, making sure Rogue didn't make and moves on her crush. Scott was oblivious to the power plays to between the two girls.

Bobby and Kurt talked most of lunch, filling in Yugi about all the people who normally stayed at the institute but were currently field tripping at the schools' secondary location. In Ireland. Apparently the school was well funded.

Yugi half listened to the two boys while he watched the odd behavior of the other students, more preoccupied with the strange flash of intense trepidation he had gotten from Yami halfway through Trig. He had tried to contact his dark half, but Yami had a block up. Yugi wasn't going to pry, since Yami had told him he'd be putting up the block so he wouldn't be a distraction to Yugi. Unfortunately that's exactly what he had become with the little burst. Yugi sighed and picked at the rest of his food.

If it was food. The menu said it was 'Chef's Surprise'. From the looks of it, that meant the chef was probably surprised that anyone ate it. The small square of chocolate cake that came as dessert was pretty good, though.

*****000*****

Yami was led through long metal hallways obviously meant to contain uncontrolled abilities. The below ground facilities had a military feel that was completely broken when the doors of the 'Danger Room' opened to reveal a twelve year old boy playing fetch with a large reddish brown dog. Correction, a small wolf. The boy was throwing a Frisbee as far and high as he could when they entered. The wolf jumped and caught it while it was a good eight feet off the ground.

The boy cheered and ran up to the wolf, throwing his arms around her, "You did great, Rahnae! That's the highest you've ever gotten!"

The wolf barked and wagged her tail, very happy at her accomplishment. Then she noticed the professor and his guest. Shaking the boy off, Rahnae trotted over to the group and started sniffing Yami's feet. After taking a good whiff, she backed up and growled, hackles raised.

Yami backed up, glaring at the cousin of Anubis. The creature could probably sense his unnatural connection to the world. One that the God of Death would not approve of, though Anubis couldn't do anything about it.

Logan got ready to pop his claws, he trusted Rahnae far more than the twin.

Xavier addressed the wolf, "Please clam down, Rahnae. Yami is our guest. If you have a problem with him, tell us what it is."

To the spirit's surprise the wolf transformed into a red-haired girl of probably thirteen or fourteen. She gave Yami the worst look she could and spoke with an Irish accent, "He smells wrong. He dennae smell… right. He smells… unnatural, like he… I don't know. I don't like it."

Yami's glower deepened, unnoticed by Xavier, but not Logan or Ororo who both got ready to intercede if something happened.

Charles held up a hand, "Please, Rahnae…"

"I would appreciate it if I wasn't judged by my smell," Yami interrupted, his arms uncrossing as a smirk graced his lips. "I'm sure you wouldn't like it if someone said they didn't like you because you had a case of body odor. I have been running around all day, and although I might not smell it and Xavier-san might not smell it, I'm sure every dog I've come across thinks I reek."

Rahnae growled again, "It's not your body odor that's wrong. It's you. There's something wrong about you. I don't know what, but there is." She walked past the group and out the door, "I'll be watching you."

Xavier sighed and rubbed his forehead, "That was Rahnae. She's technically a …werewolf that can change form whenever she wants. I apologize for her manners."

Yami shrugged, crossing his arms again. As long as she didn't attempt to hurt Yugi, he could care less what the cousin of Anubis thought.

Logan followed the girl out as Charles waved the boy over and introduced him, "This is James Madrox. He came into his power last fall. He can multiply himself."

Jamie held out his hand, "You can call me Jamie. It's nice to meet you. And don't worry about Rahnae, she's like that with everyone she first meets."

Yami took the offered hand, "I'll keep that in mind."

"So what's your power?"

"I can… disappear. From pretty much everything."

Jamie gave him a confused look, so Yami went to spirit form and the boy started twirling around trying to find him. Jamie even put his hands through Yami, trying to see if he was really gone or just invisible. Yami stepped aside and wrapped a hand around one of Jamie's wrists, then became corporeal. This caused the kid to shriek in surprise and fall backwards, Yami's grip being the only thing that kept him from landing on his butt.

"Sorry about that," the violet eyed boy said, helping the boy stay on his feet. "I didn't mean to scare you like that."

Jamie grinned, "That was cool! I wish I my power was like that. I have to fall to activate it. You can just… poof! Disappear! How did you get back holding my wrist, though?"

"I didn't even leave the room. I just made it so you couldn't see or touch me."

"That's so cool! Kurt's going to be so jealous when he finds out! Has he found out?"

"No. Why would he be jealous?"

"'Cause his power's teleporting! He can disappear, but he has to reappear somewhere else. He doesn't just stay invisible or whatever you did."

Yami tilted his head and looked curiously at Xavier, "Are all the students here mutants?"

"Very much so," Charles nodded. "This is a school for the gifted. The gifted in this case being mutants. Speaking of which, is your brother a mutant as well?"

Yami shrugged, "Probably. But I don't know if his power counts as such. Or if he has any others."

"And what is his ability?"

"When I disappear… He can see me. And we can speak to each other mind to mind."

Charles smiled, "And you don't know if he has any others?"

"Haven't had much use for anything else. Although," Yami gave the impression of thinking hard, but was really just making a dramatic pause so he could give Yugi a way to practice his shielding magic, which he was abysmal at. "He has sometimes… stopped stuff from hitting him… Shielded himself, I guess." Yami shrugged and gave Xavier the most innocent eyes he could. "It could be a power, but I've never seen him be able to do it when he wants to. And it's only happened a couple of times…" That part was true enough. Yugi really couldn't control shields very well and had only successfully brought them up a few times when he panicked. He was better at healing and illusions.

The professor gave another kind smile, one he should have copyrighted with how often he used it, and said, "This institute focuses on training mutants to control their powers, perhaps you and your brother can learn to better control yours while here."

Yami looked down at his feet, as if he felt shy, which he didn't, and responded, "I think that would be nice…"

*****000*****

Rahnae Sinclair, werewolf, slammed the door to her room and tossed herself onto the bed. When the Professor told her that she wouldn't be able to shift form while topside because of an exchange student, she hadn't been all that worried. For herself anyway. Jamie's power had a habit of kicking in at the most inopportune times. She hadn't even planned on meeting the kid until dinner. That way she could meet both of the twins at the same time. Instead, she could now use her powers in front of the two, but didn't want to be in the same room with one of them, much less the same house.

He just smelled wrong. Apparently Wolverine couldn't smell it or he'd be acting the same way she was, which meant she had a better nose than him. Score one for the Irish and bring on the hell hounds!

"Whoop-dee-doo," she muttered to herself, bunching a pillow under her chin. "The professor probably thinks I'm nuts. Jamie's probably already attached himself to the guy… And I bet he has a way better power than any of us, too. Bet he donnae have to worry about hair growing in the oddest places…"

The thirteen year old threw her pillow at the wall and turned over on her back, letting out a sigh, "How come I'm cursed with the power of the were-folk?"

"It's not supposed to be a curse, Darlin'," Logan replied and leaned against the door frame.

Rahnae turned her head and glared at the man, "You're supposed to knock."

Logan rasped his knuckles against the wood twice then walked into the room and sat down on the bed next to the girl, "Want to talk about it? To someone who understands about the beast?"

Rahnae turned her head the other way and hugged her second pillow to her chest, "I dannae like that boy. He smells wrong. Didn't you smell it?"

"All I get is this weird sense of being old. But nothing… wrong. Can you describe it?"

"That's just it, Wolverine," she replied, sitting up and giving the man an exasperated look, "I can't describe as other than 'Wrong'. And the professor isn't going to accept that." Her shoulders slumped and she threw the second pillow against the far wall so it joined the first, "He probably thinks I'm nuts."

"Chuck would never think you're nuts…"

"Not the professor… the new guy. I didn't even learn his name."

"He goes by Yami. Though I get the impression that that isn't his real name. And his twin brother goes by Yugi."

Rahnae nodded and leaned against the Canadian's shoulder. Logan sniffed the air and didn't find any other scents filtering down the hall. Assured no one else would see him, he wrapped an arm around the the teen and gave her what little comfort he could through the gesture. It was a lot more than he could ever know.

*****000*****

It took the last couple of hours that school was in session for Yami to get the complete tour of the X-mansion, during which he was hit with shock after shock about everything X-man. So when Yugi an the others got home, it wasn't a big surprise to see Yami appear out of no where and scare the daylights out of the other students and Yugi, who nearly fainted.

_//We have to talk, Hikari!//_ Yami sent through their now unblocked link.

_/WHAT ARE DOING?!/ _Yugi yelled back, causing the spirit to wince very noticeably.

"Easy, Yugi. You don't need to yell," he replied out loud rubbing his ears, even though it wouldn't do any good. "Let me explain…" The spirit went on to mentally tell his light about the day he had had and the way he arranged for Yugi to get some real magic practice in. The explanation was, of course, interrupted by Yugi's mental outbursts and quick lecturing on all the 'rude' things Yami had pulled during the day.

The X-men, meanwhile, got a full explanation via Xavier, who did an en mase sending.

At the end of which, Evan jumped in the air and yelled happily, "Yes! This is so cool! The world Duelist Champion is not only staying with us, he's a mutant , too! We don't have to hide our powers! This is great!"

Kurt, on the other hand retreated to the back of the group and started to debate to himself whether or not to turn off his image inducer. Even other mutants reacted poorly to his true appearance.

Yugi took all the information in and was quiet for a while afterwards. All the changes would take a bit of time to sink in. "Um, I'm going to go upstairs and do my homework," he mumbled and walked past everyone, Yami trailing closely behind. The two were stopped at the top of the stairs by Rahnae.

"So you're the other half of this pair," she stated, startling Yugi out of his thoughts. "You two really are twins. You look the same. You even smell the same. At least, on the surface. But unlike your brother, you dannae smell wrong. Why is that?"

Yugi gave Yami a curious glance, then looked back at the red-head, "Um, I'm sorry? I…"

The girl crossed her arms and gave Yami a mean look, "You might not know what I'm talking about, but I'm sure your… brother does."

"Whatever Yami knows, I know. He hasn't a clue what you're talking about, either," Yugi insisted politely, heading past the girl. "Now if you'll excuse me, I really do need to get my homework done. It was nice to meet you."

Yami followed his light, not stopping as he passed Rahnae and muttered under his breath so only she could hear. Her glare turned into a snarl as he retreated to his and Yugi's room.

Jean walked up beside the girl, "Um, what was that about?"

"Donnae worry about it," Rahnae responded and walked downstairs, heading for the game room.

*****000*****

"Yami? What was that about?" Yugi asked his dark as they entered their room.

Yami shut the door, then sat down on the bed and leaned against the headboard, "She is a mutant who can turn into a wolf."

Yugi furrowed his brow in thought and a moment later an 'o' of understanding replaced it, "So she can tell that you're a spirit."

"Correct. But she obviously doesn't recognize me as such. She hasn't been trained to recognize spirits from the living. She might not even be able to see them normally. But then again, I'm not a normal spirit."

Yugi sat on the bed next to Yami and curled into his dark half's side, "Is this going to be a major problem?"

Yami shook his head, "It shouldn't be. I'll just have to watch myself around her is all." The spirit glanced down at his other half and raised an eyebrow, "Don't you have homework?"

Yugi nodded and shrugged, "It's world history. I figured you could cover it. The class is going over World War 2 right now…"

"Yugi, you really need to start paying attention to those things. Just because you try and ignore it doesn't mean it didn't happen."

"Just because it happened, it doesn't mean I have to think about it. Especially since the teacher wants me to do a report on the most significant bombings…"

Yami didn't reply. Instead, he wrapped his arms around his light and tried to give him comfort as silent tears ran down both of their faces. The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was a painful point for the split soul. Yugi had lost almost his entire family in the bombings. Lost them before he even met them. The only survivors being his parents and Grandfather, all of whom had been in Egypt on a dig for the British Museum at the time. Yugi was right, Yami was the better of the two to handle the report.

The spirit ran a hand through Yugi's hair and murmured, "I'll get the report done. When is it due?"

"End of the week…"

"I'll get it done."

*****000*****

Dear X-peeps,

In Japan there is a city called Domino. In this city, there is a high school teeming with teenagers all consumed with their own little cares and pains. All of them working each day just to get through the torment the government and their parents forced them to go through. In the hustle and bustle of these teenagers there is a girl from America trying hard to fit in, or at least not to stand out. Her name is Katherine 'Kitty' Pryde and this is her story….

You guys won't believe it, but not only do I have to wear a uniform, I stay in one classroom for the most part. For most of the day we have one teacher who goes over everything from Grammar to Science. After recess, yes we have recess (it's gym, only we're not required to participate), the teachers switch around on us for a couple classes, then we're released for the last two periods to go to specialization courses. The two I got signed up for are Computer Programing (well duh!) and Ancient Cultures. Apparently this Yugi kid I exchanged with didn't take Programing, but was a biz at Ancient Cultures. I got Programming instead of his other specialization because I totally suck at 'Advanced Religious Theories Concerning Ancient Cultures'. I'm not kidding. That's the exact translation of the course's name. Apparently this guy wants to be an Archaeologist It seems to run in the family. His grandfather, the guy I'm staying with, used to be an archaeologist along with the kid's parents. He's a nice old guy who runs a game shop and Evan you are going to totally die over this, but he gets first pick at all Duel Monster cards that come in on a WEEKLY basis. He even has a one of the four Blue Eyes White Dragon cards.

Speaking of all things Duel Monsters, I am in the same class as not only Katsuya Jonouchi, but also Seto Kaiba. That's right! I'm in the same class as the president of Kaiba Corp. His girlfriend is in my class, too and she got him to promise that he'd let the whole bunch of us spend a day in his virtual reality game. He's planning on putting the games on the market for Kaiba Land (the land of all things Duel Monsters) come summer.

Oh, I guess I should introduce you to the 'gang'.

First there's Anzu Mazaki. She's Kaiba's girlfriend. She's really pretty, has brown hair and brown eyes and is really loyal to her friends. She also let me barrow one of her uniforms for the first day of school since the school didn't know my size. She's actually a lot like me. We get along great.

Next there's Katsuya 'Jou' Jonouchi. Rogue, he is every bit as hot up close as he is on television. He's also loaded because the guy who won the Duelist Kingdom Tournament gave him the three million dollar prize money. By the way, that guy is Yugi Motou, the one I am exchanging with. I'm betting Evan's in heaven right now and driving the kid out of his mind.

Third is Hiroto Honda. Hiroto is a guy with a motorcycle. And he's Jou's best friend after Yugi. He's semi attractive but you git him and Jou in the same room together, then you had better make sure no girls around. They do this thing called the 'panty tank' that just drives me and Anzu crazy. I am now wearing shorts under my uniform's skirt as a precaution.

Fourth is this really hot guy named Ryou Bakura. He has white-blond hair and brown eyes like a doe. *sigh* He's quiet and as I just recently found out, incredibly easy to scare. On top of that, he screams like a girl. And I mean even worse than me. I swear, his shriek could break glass if he held if for longer than two seconds. He's British born and bred, but his dad has a lot of business deals over here, so they moved.

He's also kind of strange. There are these times when it feels like he's staring at me but whine I turn around he's got his head buried in his schoolwork. Him and Hiroto are real good buds. Supposedly he lives alone because his father's always off on business trips. But I've overheard him and Hiroto talking about him not wanting Ryou to go home because someone would be there waiting to hurt him. He told Hiroto not to worry, but I don't know. It sounds like he may be being abused. I know I shouldn't poke my nose in this when I don't have all the facts, but, well…

Anyway, the other one of the 'gang' is Seto Kaiba himself. Although he denies it up, down and sideways in five different languages. He is a complete genius. And he gets days off from school because he runs his own company. Lucky guy. Rich, smart and runs his own company at the age of 17. Almost like Warren. Have you guys heard from him lately?

Aside from that, I am keeping up my research into Egypt. Sugoroku (the guy I'm staying with) loves to talk about all the digs he's been on. His favorite subject is the connection between Duel Monsters and something called the Shadow Games which were played in Egypt some five thousand years ago. I think Kurt made a comment about some shadow games at some point… As it turns out, Pegasus Crawford, the guy who created Duel Monsters, got the idea after going to Egypt a few months after losing his wife. According to Sugoroku, Duel Monsters was a game played by Pharaohs and Sorcerers to decide the fate of the nation. There's even this Egyptian Exhibit at the Domino Museum that has artifacts that support this theory. I'll get pictures sent as soon as I can.

Well, I'm going to have to end this.

Love and Miss you guys,

Kitty

*****000*****

Ryou Bakura waved good bye to Hiroto, who had given him a ride home from school, and closed the door to his very big and very empty house. He locked the three deadbolts and the lock, then checked the rest of the locks in the house to make sure they were secured. When all was done, he went to his room and unlocked his curio cabinet. Inside, on the shelf just below eye level, sat the Mellinnium Eye and Ring. He still couldn't remember how he ended up with the Eye, but he knew that the dark spirit trapped in the Ring got it while in control of his body.

At the end of the Battle City Tournament, Ryou had started to know when the spirit took him over. He had never noticed it before as his memory and consciousness was usually blocked out. But then he had started to feel when he was pushed aside and the spirit took over.

Now, half a year later, the spirit could manifest himself physically while Ryou wore the Ring. Every time he put it on, the spirit would punish him for ever talking it off. And oddly enough, each time he put it on, the harder it was to take off, even when the punishments he received hurt so much he blacked out.

So why did he put it on every afternoon after coming home from school. He knew he would get punished. Maybe he did it because he was lonely. His father was never around for more than a few minutes at a time. Hiroto had managed to get the school to let him get a job so he hardly ever stayed over anymore. None of the others in their group at school were close enough to him to share his secret with. Except Yugi. And he was in America for the next two months.

So maybe it was just so he wouldn't be alone. Maybe that was the reason Ryou reached into the cabinet and took out the ring. Maybe that was why he slipped it's rope chain around his neck. Maybe that was why he didn't complain when the truly nameless spirit manifested in front of him and started cursing him. Ryou really didn't know.

The only thing he knew the moment the spirit hit him, a perverted sense of happiness ran through him. It was always like that and it increased with every slur and every punch and every blessed pain that was rained down on him until he blacked out with a feeling close to perfection.

The spirit looked down on his host, delight running through him as he reveled in the emotions that always ran through the boy when he was punished. Though truth be told, it had ceased to be punishment when the spirit realized that Ryou got off on it. The tomb robber had decided to listen in to Ryou's thoughts one day while punishing him, just to see if he was getting through to the 'pretty-boy'. He found out that he was getting through to him, all right. And the pansy didn't even know that he liked it. The spirit enjoyed dishing out pain and having a host that enjoyed receiving it made him all kinds of happy.

"Of course you do it because you're lonely," He muttered, picking up the battered body of his host and putting him on the bed. He had long since learned how to do the most damage without leaving any marks so he wasn't worried about having to clean up any cuts. The punishment was now more routine than actual punishment since the spirit really did have to take care of his host. If he didn't, he wouldn't have a host to beat up.

But it would be a while until Ryou came to. The tomb robber decided he might as well get some business done while his host was out. Turning on the computer, he checked his email. For the third day in a row there was a note from someone calling himself 'Mesmero'.

The man wanted to work a deal with the spirit. He had knowledge of the Mellinnium Items and claimed that he could get a hold of the five Yugi held. But he wanted the spirit to 'loan' him the two he had for twenty four hours. At the end of which, he guaranteed that the spirit would get all seven delivered to him with the thanks of someone called 'World's End'.

At least that was the name the Hieroglyphics e-mailed to him translated out to. He was pretty sure of that. He had only been in the Ring for about five hundred years, so he wasn't as well versed in all things Egyptian like the Pharaoh was.

The spirit leaned back in his chair as he read the newest email. It was the same as the other two. Exactly the same. Apparently this Mesmero wasn't very creative. Growling at the mans' audacity, the spirit deleted the email and turned off the infernal machine. Glancing at a clock, he found that only ten minutes had passed. Ryou would be out for another hour or more. The spirit would have to find something to do to entertain himself.

After a moment he smiled evilly, the only way it seemed he knew how, and headed for the bathroom. He hadn't had a good hot bath in positively ages.

*****000*****

End Chapter Five

Yami Bakura will, in future chapters, be referred to as Khabit. It is Egyptian for "Shadow"

Yami Bakura's age is a subject of contention. At this point, he does not know how old he is, his memories only go back about 500 years. As he assumes he is better than the 'Pharaoh' in every way, he assumes that the memories he currently has are all that he has.

And no, The whole Hiroshima/Nagasaki family death thing is not cannon. I just thought it would be a good, if sad, way of explaining why we only see or hear about Grandpa.


	7. Chapter 6

**The Fourth "God"**

A Yu-Gi-Oh!/X-Men: Evolution crossover fic.

Written by Rogue Moon

"_In the centuries since En-Sabah-Nur cursed me with immortality, I've know few as selfless as these mutants."_

~Ozymandias, X-Force #67

*****000*****

Chapter Six

The rest of the week passed strangely for Yami and Yugi. What was the normal routine for the X-men took some getting used to by the exchange students. While Yugi was at the high school, Yami was forced to take classes at the institute as originally discussed on Sunday. The spirit found the courses alternately boring and wastes if his time. Most of the classes, all of which were taught by Ororo or Dr. McCoy, didn't hold any interest for him. Some of the subjects were over his head and he did have to work to get through them, but it wasn't an enjoyable challenge.

On top if it, he always missed Yugi during the day and it affected his temper. Several times he had tossed a book across a room in frustration. Had he been with Yugi, that would not have happened. During a couple other more dangerous incidents involving pencils and pens as projectiles, Ororo and Jamie had almost gotten hurt by walking into the room at the wrong moment. Rahnae avoided him.

Afternoons were different. Once Yugi was back from school, Yami mellowed out. They had also started having two-hour Danger Room sessions starting a half hour after the high school let out. For Yami and Yugi, these sessions were easy and not as life threatening as what the X-men were subjected to. The sessions the twins attended involved lightweight objects being hurled at Yami and Yugi. Unfortunately for the small boy, Yugi was still unable to get his shields to work voluntarily and he usually had to duck out of the way to avoid getting hurt. On the plus side, he was greatly developing what little athletic skill he had.

At night they were invited out to movies and trips to the local mall. Yugi liked the movies, while Yami usually elected to go to the mall. The spirit spent those nights at the only comic/game store the shopping center boasted, once or twice going into the arcade, but nothing else ever caught his interest.

On Thursday afternoon, Yugi received two e-mails: one from Katsuya and one from Kaiba. He, of course, opened the one from Katsuya first:

_Hey Yug!_

_Guess what? I'm coming to New York, that's what! Because Kaiba's got business over there with some company, he won't be able to attend the Duel Monsters convention. So, I get to instead. You know, because I'm runner up and all of this years' tournament. Isn't that great?!_

_Kaiba will be there for only a couple hours, but then he has to go into nego…nagoti… aw, he has to talk with the head of some company about marketing his virtual reality game in the United States._

_So I get to sign autographs and there's going to be a competition and whoever wins it gets the chance to duel me. I'm a last minute throw in and it took a lot of work to get the school to agree, but since my grades have been up lately, they eventually agreed to it._

_So I want you to come to the convention and see me. Bring my duel disc with you and we can really show everyone a good duel! Can you believe Kaiba put a puppy on it?! You didn't happen to 'accidentally' damage that did you? 'Cause you know I'll forgive you…_

_Oh, and guess what, yours and my system are special models. Within the world disc system, mine is known as the 'Red-Eyes Puppy'. I don't much like the name, but at least Kaiba ranked me as a five star duelist and once I have my voiceprint registered in the system I'll be the only one who can use it._

_Yours is like that too. Once you have your voiceprint registered (you do have it registered, right?) only you can use it. Yours has a cool code name too. But you'll have to find it out by getting your voice registered. So if you haven't done that already, DO IT!_

_So anyway, I want to see you at the convention. I want to go up against you after I go up against whoever wins the competition. I'd say that was going to be you, but apparently you had to register for this thing months ago._

_Man, now that I think about it, I hope you can get into the convention…_

_What am I saying? You're the undisputed world champion, of course you can get in._

_Everybody misses you._

_Even Kaiba. He won't say it though, no matter how much anyone pries…_

_Oh, and the girl you exchanged with? Man is she a looker! If I wasn't with Mai, I might ask her out. Or not, since her and Anzu are way too much alike…Except that I swear I saw her doing some weird things when she thought no one was looking the other day. I had to be sleep deprived because it was just before class and she was having trouble getting her locker open. So I headed out to the hall to help her, but just as I was looking around the corner at her, I swear I saw her arm go through the locker door. She didn't see me watching and I know it's probably sleep deprivation. But with all the things you and Ryu have done in the past… and all the stuff Pegasus was able to do…It was weird._

_So, I'll see you Saturday!_

_~Jou_

Yugi grinned and saved the mail to show to Yami when he got out of the shower. The boy didn't want to disturb his dark half while he was in the middle of an absolutely horrible rendition of some song they had heard on the radio an hour before. Especially since it was so funny to listen to. No one but Ryu believed him when he had told his friends about his dark half's slightly annoying habit. And Yami always denied it when it was brought up to anyone.

Snickering, Yugi opened up the e-mail from Kaiba:

_Motou,_

_There will be a Duel Monsters convention in New York this weekend. I expect you to be there and to go up against me during the few hours I'll have to spare._

_I have put your name on the list of VIP's. You and whomever you want to bring will be let in and treated as well as I would be. Mokuba will be around and will probably stay with you while you're there. Lapdog will also be there as a special guest._

_I have monitored your Duel Disc and it seems you haven't tried it out yet. I assume this is because you haven't found a good opportunity to do so. So I am giving you an opportunity. I expect you to be at the convention and to face me. That will be an accurate test of its capabilities._

_Kaiba Seto_

_P.S. Anzu says she misses you. I can't see why, though. _

…_I now owe you a slap to the back of your head in recompense for the one I just received from Anzu. Make that two._

Yugi saved that e-mail as well and then headed downstairs to find Professor Xavier and see if it was all right to go to the convention. After searching the downstairs and not finding anyone, he started for the elevator. Yami interrupted his progress halfway there, _//what's the rush about, Hikari?//_

_/I need to get permission to go to the Duel Monsters convention that's in New York this weekend,/ he replied as he stepped onto the elevator, Yami appearing in spirit form next to him._

_//When did you hear about this?//_

_/While you were making your Shower Head debut. I think that single might even go Mildew!/_

_//Oh shut up... it's not like you don't do it.//_

Yugi grinned and got off the elevator, stepping into the metal halls of the basement, _/But I don't sound like a cat on a carburetor./_

_//That depends on who you ask,//_ Yami replied, trailing behind, but not becoming corporeal. He didn't feel like having a staring contest with Rahnae on the off chance that they ran into the girl.

Yugi led them to the control room for the Danger Room. He and Yami had never been inside while the X-Men were doing their training, so it took them a minute to absorb the sight that greeted them. Sitting at the controls were Ororo and Xavier. Within the Danger Room, the twins could see Jean floating like an angel among metal arms and laser beams that threatened to do large amounts of bodily harm. The rest of the X-men were not it sight yet as the boys were still in the doorway.

Ororo turned around when the door opened and greeted Yugi; she couldn't see Yami, "Hello. Is there something we can help you with?"

Yugi tried to tear his eyes away from the window into the Danger Room, "Um… I was wanting to get… um… Was that a buzz saw?"

Ororo glanced over her shoulder, "Yes. You were wanting to get…?"

"Um… permission to go to the … uh… Whoa! Are they going to be all right?" Yugi ran up to the window and pressed his face against it, trying to see everything at once. Yami was right beside him, still invisible.

Ororo rolled her eyes and shook her head, "They will only get hurt if they don't work as a team. Which they have been doing pretty well so far."

Xavier pressed a button on the control panel and in the room, metal robots rose from the floor to join in the fray.

Yugi watched fascinated as Scott took three of them out with his optic blast and Kurt teleported from one to another, pulling vital wires out of their 'necks'. One of them pinned Rogue and she had to be freed by Jean. But this left the telepath distracted and an easy target that the lasers in the room tool full advantage of. Yugi held his breath as three of them fired upon her at the same time. She was too distracted to do anything and no one else seemed to have noticed. Yugi whispered his shielding spell, praying it would work this time.

It didn't.

But Jean was safe because Kurt _bamfed_ in and grabbed her before the blasts hit. Yugi let out a sigh of relief and leaned his forehead against the glass, "That was so close. Do they always go through this?"

Xavier nodded, not that Yugi saw him, and said, "They all started where you and Yami are at and have advanced to this. They have been working as a team for a little over two years. Although I'm sure they would appreciate whatever prayer you whispered a second ago. They always appreciate it when someone is rooting for them."

Yugi blinked, "Prayer? Oh, that… Right. They have to go through this _every_ day?"

"Yes. Now, what is it you were wanting?"

"Why's Kurt in the Holloween Costume?"

A pause.

A sigh, "He's not. Like Dr. McCoy, his mutation manifests physically, giving him blue fur and a prehensile tail. Now, what is it you-"

"Then why doesn't he always look like that?"

"I will explain later, Yugi," Xavier rubbed his forehead with some frustration, "What is it you wished to speak to me about?"

Yugi scrunched his brow in confusion, his original purpose having been forgotten for a moment, "Oh yeah! I was wondering if I could go into New York this Saturday. There is a Duel Monsters convention and three of my friends from home will be there. If you don't want me going alone, that's fine, I was told I could bring whoever I wanted with me."

Xavier chuckled, "You can go. You'll have to go with Evan, Kurt, and Bobby, though. They have been wanting to go for the last five months. Logan will be driving them into town and Scott might even be going. Rogue, Jean and Rahnae plan on going shopping. As for Jamie, he'll probably beg to go since he doesn't like shopping too much and won't want to end up carrying bags for the girls. Will Yami be going too?"

Yugi blinked, "Um, yeah. But he'll probably stay invisible the whole time. He's not all that fond of crowds, but he doesn't like to leave me alone."

Xavier thought on this for a moment, catching Ororo's eyes for a few seconds, then looked back at the boy, "I don't know that I like the idea of him going like that, but I don't suppose it will be a problem if he stays invisible the entire time…"

"Oh it won't be a problem, he does it all the time at home," Yugi smiled and left the room, "Thanks!"

*****000*****

By the time Saturday rolled around, it had been decided that all the boys would go to the convention and all the girls would go shopping. Xavier and Hank decided to stay home and work on private projects.

Yugi hopped in the jeep, sitting between Bobby and Kurt; the latter having his image inducer turned on. It made the long sleeve shirt and gloves he had on look like normal skin. Although, it still felt like cloth if someone touched it. Kurt had been really scared about showing Yugi and Yami his true appearance. It wasn't as big a deal to them as he had thought it would be. Mostly because they had already inadvertently seen it and after seeing what Hank looked like, Kurt's appearance was nothing.

On Yugi's left arm was his Duel Disc. He had registered his voiceprint on Thursday after getting permission to go to the convention. It was a bit of a surprise to learn his systems' name was 'Yu-Gi-Oh'. He hadn't thought Kaiba would acknowledge him like that.

Katsuya's disc system was in Yugi's lap, protectively covered by both his arms.

Logan checked over the boys, making sure everyone was there, "Where's Yami?"

"In the back," Yugi replied.

Logan shrugged and got in the drivers seat, "I'll take your word for it."

The jeep started up and Evan poked at the Duel Disc on Yugi's arm, "What's that thing?"

Yugi moved the disc into a safer spot, away from Evan's finger, "It's my Duel Disc. And it's very delicate."

Jamie, who was stuck in the back, leaned over the seat, "Is Yami really back here? I can't feel him…"

"Yes. When he does that, people can walk right through him," Yugi nodded.

Evan changed the subject, more interested in the Duel Disc, "So what's that in your lap?"

"That is Katsuya's Disc. He loaned it to me when I came here so I could duel properly with someone. But the technology takes some getting used to, so I haven't used either yet."

Evan sat slack jawed, "You… you've had a… Duel Disc… since you arrived… and you didn't show it to anyone?"

Yugi shook his head 'no'.

"But I thought we were friends! You know how much I like Duel Monsters!"

Scott turned around from his spot in the front passenger seat, "Calm down, Evan. He didn't have any reason to show it to us. So just stop the guilt trip, okay?"

Evan grumbled to himself for the rest of the ride.

*****000*****

It took about an hour to get to New York and another half hour to find a parking space after they got to the convention center. By the time they got to the sign in, it was already eleven. Evan started complaining because he would only have an hour to look around before the competition started. Yugi just grinned and followed the group to the check in counter.

Evan, Kurt and Bobby picked up their passes without any problems because they had gotten tickets five months ago. But Scott, Jamie and Logan were told that they couldn't enter. The short man started arguing with the woman at the counter. Logan started to get a little too loud so Yugi tugged on the mans' shirt. Whirling around, ready to hit something, the Canadian barked out, "What?"

Cringing, Yugi held up his hands in peace, "If you, Scott-san, and Jamie-chan will just wait a few minutes, we'll all be let in."

Logan narrowed his eyes, "And how is that going to happen? This idiot says all the tickets are sold out and she can't let anyone not on the list in."

Yugi smiled, "Oh, we'll get in. Just let me talk with her a moment." Not waiting for an answer, Yugi leaned over the table and started talking to the woman, "Hello. I need seven passes inside. One for myself and six for my guests."

The woman raised an eyebrow, "Name?"

"Motou, Yugi."

The woman scanned through the list, checking for both 'Motou, Yugi' and 'Yugi Motou'. Not finding either, she shook her head, "I'm sorry, young man, but your name isn't on the list."

"Did you check the VIP list? Kaiba said my name would be on that one."

Snorting and rolling her eyes, the woman pulled out the VIP list, "Yeah, sure. You and everyone else here is on this thing. I'll look it over, okay."

Not letting the sarcasm get to him, Yugi smiled and waited politely while she looked for his name.

"What did you say your name was?" she asked as her eyes stopped about halfway down.

"Motou, Yugi."

Looking from list to boy and back again, she pulled out a small electric devise, "Do you have your Duel Disc on you?"

Yugi held it out and she placed the metal box with lots of flashing buttons and a green display into the deck slot. A moment later it beeped and she put it away. "Everything seems in order. How many guests do you have?"

"Six plus myself. No, wait. Three of them already have tickets, so… Three guests plus myself."

She rifled through a box by her feet, then sat back up and held out a packet to the boy, "Four all access passes. If you'll wait by the metal detectors for just a moment, Mister Kaiba will be right down."

"But I thought Seto couldn't make it until later?"

"He can't. The Miser Kaiba I'm referring to is Mokuba Kaiba. Now if you'll please move, there is a line behind you."

Yugi took the passes and headed for the metal detectors. Logan and the others joined him. Smiling, he handed over the three extra passes and placed his around his neck, "See, we were on the list. We just have to wait a few minutes for Mokuba to get here and then we can go in."

"Who's Mo…" Logan started, but was interrupted by a shout.

"Yugi!" Mokuba yelled, barreling at the boy who also ran at his friend in welcome. The two hit each other and wrapped their arms around the other in a tight hug accompanied by a lot of Japanese babbling.

Logan crossed his arms, "I guess that answers that question."

Scott and Jamie exchanged looks and shrugged their shoulders. Evan and Bobby were slightly amazed at the energy the two boys showed.

After a few minutes of the two chatting up a storm in Japanese, Logan cleared his throat and walked up to the two, "You going to stand here all day chatting, or are you going to explain about us getting in."

Mokuba gave the man a once over and dismissed him, then turned back to Yugi, "I am to practice English. These friends?"

Yugi nodded, "Uh-huh. That's Logan, he's our chaperone. The guy with the red glasses is Scott and the guy your age is Jamie. The other three already have tickets and can get in. They're over there. The blond is Evan, the brown haired one is Bobby, and the one with the black hair is Kurt." The small boy waved his friends over, "Everyone, this is Mokuba Kaiba. He is helping run the convention while Seto is busy with some business. I'm on the VIP list and allowed to bring as many guests as I want and Mokuba is here to help show us around as well."

The X-Men waved or nodded, whatever response they were most inclined to do and then Mokuba spoke again, "You have pass?"

Yugi nodded, "Yes. Thank you, Mokuba."

The kid shrugged and crossed his arms, then started for the entrance to the convention, "What you want first?"

"Can we find Katsuya? I want to give him back his Duel Disc."

Mokuba nodded and led them inside, his bodyguards making a path. Yugi and Mokuba chatted away in Japanese catching up on all the things they may have missed. Logan listened intently; making sure Yugi didn't reveal anything about the X-Men.

Any other conversation that might have happened was drowned out by a large group of girls screaming in excitement somewhere ahead of the X-men. What little of the crowd they could see was starting to part as a blond boy came barreling through to duck behind the bodyguards.

"Don't let them past ya!" he yelled in Japanese as the large group of girls came into sight, all screaming hysterically. One of the bodyguards called for backup, then joined his partners in blocking the small pass between booths.

The blond leaned his back against a nearby wall of a booth filled with Duel Monsters stuffed animals and slid to the ground, panting for breath.

Yugi grinned evilly, handed Mokuba Jou's Duel Disc, and ran at the boy, jumping at the last second so he would land in the guys' lap. A loud 'oof' and some gasping followed as Yugi laughed, "Katsuya!"

The blond grabbed his friend by the waist and flipped them over so Yugi's back was to the ground, "Alright, buddy, you asked for it!" He rolled up his sleeve and hauled back his arm. His hand flew forward and started to tickle Yugi's side. "Take that! And That! And some of these!"

Yugi gasped between laughter, "I… Give! Please! …I …Stop!"

Katsuya held his hands up, "V for victory! I have finally beaten the great Motou Yugi! Yeah!"

The small boy laughed and pushed at his friends legs, silently telling him to get up. The blond did so, glancing at the girls watching through the bodyguard curtain, who were still screaming and trying to grab him. "It's great to see ya, Yug."

"It's great to see you, Jou," He replied and went back to Mokuba to get the Duel Disc, "I brought your Disc system like you asked."

"Great! Now we can duel like pros! I just got this great new card that I can't wait to try out on you," He grinned, taking the system and putting it on his left wrist. That's when he finally noticed the X-men, "Hey! Who're these guys?"

Yugi introduced them all. Evan and his vacant look of bliss had to be explained, but that didn't take long. Then Yugi asked Katsuya, "Do you think we can go somewhere with less screaming?"

The blond grinned and stuffed his hands into his pockets, "No prob. Just follow me, I'll get you backstage. It's big and most of the guards are up there so we should be free from the screaming masses."

Yugi looked at the others, "Katsuya's going to take me backstage. If you guys want to come, that's cool. Or you can look around for a while and join us later. If you have problems finding me, just talk to a security guard. They should be able to locate me."

The X-Men broke rank at that point, Jamie following Yugi while the other five headed off to look at merchandise and watch, or participate in, the Duel Monsters competition. Evan was pulled along by Kurt and Scott.

*****000*****

Seto Kaiba set his metal briefcase on the table and sat down in the leather chair provided, "Good morning, gentlemen."

The three other men in the room nodded their heads, they were already sitting down. Two of them had blond, crew cut hair and were thin enough to give the impression that they worked out. One of the two was a kid Seto's age. Unlike Seto, who wore the latest fashion in trench coats, he wore an old-fashioned business trench. He and the older blond shared a resemblance. The third man was short, fat and balding. What little hair he had was light brown and combed over the top of his head.

The older blond smiled politely, "Hello Mr. Kaiba. I am Warren Worthington the Second. This young man to my right is my son, Warren Worthington the Third, and the man to my left is my business associate, James Thompson. I hope you don't mind me bringing my son along for this meeting. He'll be the one to inherit the business when I'm gone and I want him to learn as much as possible."

Kaiba nodded, "Understandable. My father was the same way until he died a few years ago. I find myself in the same position with my little brother, Mokuba. He would be here, but we need someone to see that everything runs smoothly at the Convention today." The Japanese boy opened his briefcase and pulled out some papers. Handing them over to Mr. Thompson, he continued, "Now that pleasantries are out of the way, shall we get down to business?"

Mr. Worthington took the papers from James and scanned them, "As I understand it, you are wanting to market your 'Virtual World' here in the States. I'd like to know why you picked my company to do negotiations with to bring them to market."

Kaiba smirked, "Because even though my merger with Industrial Illusions was success a last year, your company has been in business longer and has a better reputation than Mr. Pegasus' ever had. Granted I am a large fan of his pet project, the card game known as Duel Monsters, but he only started the game twenty years ago. Your company has been in the technology business for the past eighty. I think we would compliment each other. I have the top technology company in Japan and you have the top technology company in America. I will remind you that my technology has already been profitable here in the States in the form of my Holo-duel stadiums. I do not need a business partner to bring my newest technology over. A partnership with you would only make it easier.

"Now, as you can see from the charts I have provided, my company has not always been in the best of shape. I will not deny that, but we have been on the upswing lately due to my latest holo-technology. Technology your government has been courting me to get. You will find enclosed in the packet three different offers they have given me. Each one a higher bid than the last. You will also find the first bids from other governments including the British, German and Soviet Union. The partnership I purpose would benefit both of us with large profits and benefit me with being able to get my technology on the market faster."

Mr. Worthington elbowed his son in the arm, "You see that, son? He has everything organized to give the best and most desirable impression right off the bat. He goes for the throat in a deal and makes sure he has everything he needs to back him up. Make sure you remember that."

Warren smiled and nodded, shifting his shoulders as if he was trying to get more comfortable, "Yes, sir. I will."

Mr. Worthington brought his attention back to Kaiba, "All this paper work looks to be in order. And you're right, even though you have had a bad year before this, a partnership would benefit my company greatly. I have done my own research into your company's history and feel that a partnership is something I desire. I will have my lawyers call yours to get the details worked out."

"No."

Mr. Worthington blinked in confusion, "Pardon?"

Kaiba shut his briefcase and stood up, pulling a business card from his pocket, "Your lawyers will not contact mine, because I handle all important business myself. Have them call me on Monday at my hotel. I'll be in town all week and we can put together the contract during this time." He walked over to Warren and held out his business card. Anzu had told him he needed to at least attempt to make some friends, "This is my private cell phone. We have a lot in common, call me if you need some help." He nodded at the other two, "If that's all, then I will see you at the contracts' signing. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some other meetings to attend, a convention to get to, and duelist to defeat."

He left the room before anyone could reply. Warren looked down at the card in his hand, it was a simple one containing only a number. No name, just a number.

Mr. Worthington smirked, "Well, how about that? Don't see many people that hands on these days. You can learn a lot form a guy like that, son."

Warren nodded, not really hearing his father as he made his usual reply, "yes, sir." Tucking the card in a pocket he excused himself, "Um, I have an appointment to keep at noon, father. If I'm to make it, I should leave now."

Mr. Worthington nodded and dismissed his son with a wave of his hand. The boy almost ran from the room in his rush. Thompson raised an eyebrow, "What's his hurry?"

Mr. Worthington grinned, "He's going to that Duel Monsters convention, as well. Seems he was able to sign up early enough to enter in some competition that's going on. The prize is an extremely rare card and a chance to duel the runner up of the Duel Monster World Championship."

Thompson grinned, "I remember when that game first came out. Nobody thought it would last; that it would be just another flash fad. Twenty years and still going strong. I wonder what its appeal is?"

"Have you seen the cards? The art is wonderful. And there's something about each picture that just draws you to them."

"Do I detect a fan?"

"Maybe. Now, how about we take an early lunch."

"Let me fax these papers and full instructions to the company lawyers, first. Want to make sure this goes through as quickly as possible. I saw those government quotes."

The two laughed and left the room. Mr. Worthington waited by the elevator while Thompson went to the nearest fax. It took him ten minutes to get all the paperwork and instructions sent to the firm. He straightened the papers, tucking them into his briefcase and turned around. Behind him was a security guard. The man's face was shadowed.

Thompson let out a breath, "You scared me there, sir. I was just leavening so you have the fax all to yourself."

"I have no need of the fax, Mr. Thompson," Mesmero replied, lifting his head and locking eyes with the man. "what I have need of, is you."

*****000*****

Warren made it to the convention with just enough time to register and find his way to the duel tables. His first opponent was easily beaten. Since it was a single elimination competition, he didn't count on the rest of his opponents being so easily defeated. He never took off his coat.

It actually surprised him that two hours later he found himself facing off against Evan, one of the X-men, in the final match.

Evan grinned and held out his hand, "Great to see you. I never expected you to be fan."

Warren took the offered hand and politely shook it, letting go as fast as possible, "It's not a well known fact. I'm just surprised you made it this far."

Evan's mood changed and he glowered at Warren, "And just what is that supposed to mean?"

Warren shrugged, "I just never expected you to be that good of a duelist. I mean, I've seen you fight."

"That's it! You're going down, rich boy. I happen to have been training for the past week with the best duelist there is. I can take you down easily."

"Then draw a card and lets get this thing started," Warren grinned. He knew he would probably lose, but he just had to goad the guy.

It took eight turns for Warren to lose half his life points. Eight turns that dwindled Evan's down to zero. The X-man slammed his cards down and banged his fist on the table, "I cannot believe this! I worked so hard and you just… just… Ahh!"

Warren picked up his cards and stood up, "Better luck next time, loser."

Evan glared at the rich kid and picked up his cards, "I hope the runner up stomps your butt."

The rich child turned around and shrugged, "He probably will. I've only been playing for eight months. I hear he's been playing a lot longer."

Evan shook his head as Warren turned back around and headed for the stage. When he got there, Mokuba stepped up to the mic, "Ladies, Gentleman. I present winner, Warrenu Worthingtounu."

Warren stepped forward as Mokuba held out a box. After the applause died down, Mokuba spoke again, "For win, I present rare card: Maha Vailo!"

More cheering ensued and the rich boy held up his new card for all to see. The card had come out about a year ago and only ten had ever been made. It was just so powerful. And it was only a level four card.

Mokuba waited for the noise level to subside, then introduced Katsuya. The blond nodded at his new opponent and held out his hand, speaking in poor, heavily accented, English, "Please to meet you."

"A pleasure," Warren replied, taking the offered hand and giving it a good, firm shake.

Mokuba took the mic once more, "For final match, both Duelists use Duel Disc!"

The crowd went wild at this, it would be the first time the Duel Disc system would be used in America. And everyone at the convention would get to see it first hand. It was an exciting proposition for all concerned.

Warren gulped as he realized he would be getting to use one of the products his father wanted their company to market. _Dad always did want me to get more hands on,_ he thought to himself, listening intently to the translator as Mokuba chattered off how to use it. Katsuya already had his on and was ready to go. He saw this match as child's play.

As the challenger, Warren got to go first, "I play Harpies Brother, in attack mode. I also place two cards face down on the field." The monster appeared in the air between the two players; his large, brown wings spread wide. Warren sucked in a breath at the suddenness of it. A moment later, his mind was crowing over the fact that his own wings were much nicer. He nodded, letting Jou know it was his turn.

Katsuya grinned, "A Harpy deck, eh? I know how to handle that. I set one monster face down and one card on the field."

So started the hardest game Warren had ever played and the easiest win Jou had ever gotten.

*****000*****

End Chapter


	8. Chapter 7

**The Fourth "God"**

A Yu-Gi-Oh!/X-Men: Evolution crossover fic.

Written by Rogue Moon

"…_He's dual identities; they struggle for control_

_Two personalities; inhabiting one soul…"_

~ 'Your Move', _Yu-Gi-Oh!: Music to Duel By_

*****000*****

Chapter Seven

When Saturday rolled around, Kitty was out of bed extra early. Anzu and the others were going to take her to the museum for a private tour of the Egyptian exhibit. It seemed the group of teens were friends of some very influential people besides Seto Kaiba.

In truth, as much as she wanted to see the exhibit, she was a little jealous of the rich boy and Katsuya, who were in New York all weekend. Even though Domino was really nice, Kitty couldn't help but feel homesick. Especially since she had to go back to hiding the fact that she was a mutant. As nice as everyone had been to her, they just wouldn't understand.

Shaking her head to rid it of negative thoughts, she pulled on a pink sweater, one of her favorites because it's sleeves only went to her elbows and it sported a v-neck collar. Below that she pulled on capri jeans and of course socks and comfortable footwear. A museum tour ensured one thing: lots of on your feet time. By the time she was finished, Mr. Motou was just waking up.

*****000*****

Kitty yelled 'good bye' to Sugoroku and ran out the door of the game shop. Anzu had just shown up and the girls were going to meet Hiroto and Ryou at the museum. The boys were riding Hiroto's motorcycle and the girls were taking the bus. It gave the girls time to gossip and the boy's time to pretend they were just discussing things. Anzu had told Kitty that Ryou and Hiroto were the two biggest gossips in their class, if not the school. Of course the boys denied it, but if anyone needed some information on someone else, they just had to ask one of the two and both would go off on all the rumors. They mostly just gossiped to each other, though. Only Katsuya and Yugi could ever join them mid-conversation and not get ignored. Even Anzu had trouble cutting in.

According to both Anzu and Katsuya, Hiroto and Ryou weren't very close to start with but something that happened at the Duelist Kingdom tournament had brought them closer together and they were almost like brothers now.

Anzu linked her arm with Kitty's and grinned, "You are going to love the museum. Ishizu will be showing us around. She's the curator of the exhibit and me and the others have seen it all, but she said that she didn't mind giving our friend a tour. She's an Egyptian herself, so she really enjoys showing off her heritage."

"Sounds great," Kitty laughed. "I'm just so excited to get to see pieces that aren't in the Metropolitan Museum in New York. They always have the same thing and there haven't been any new pieces since they toured King Tut's treasures. And I wasn't even born when that happened."

"Oh, what we have is better than King Tut," Anzu said, waving a hand to dismiss the famous pharaoh. "We have pieces from the reign of King Yami!"

"King Yami? Isn't that a Japanese name?"

"Yeah. But it's more of a nickname than anything else. The Pharaoh connected with Duel Monsters we call 'Yami' or 'Shadow' because he was the King of the Shadow Games. Dark, shadow… same dif. So, he's 'King Yami'," Anzu quickly made up to cover her slip of the tongue. She had forgotten for a moment that Kitty was just a normal girl who hadn't gone through all the weird stuff that Yugi had been involved in.

Kitty grinned, "That makes sense. Do any of the pieces have anything on these Shadow Games? I'm kinda into legends of ancient cultures."

Anzu pulled out some money for the bus, which had just arrived, and pulled the exchange student on board, "It sure does. The exhibit has a lot of references to the Shadow Games. It's really cool listening to Ishizu tell the stories. World destruction and all that cool stuff." The brunette paid their fare and they were lucky enough to get seats. It was early enough that the vehicle wasn't packed.

*****000*****

The crowd at the convention cheered when Jou won the match. He posed the classic victory pose and grinned at everyone, enjoying the limelight and attention. Yugi cheered him on from backstage, Logan and Jamie a little further behind him. Jamie was cheering because Warren had gotten his butt kicked. As far the as kid was concerned, the rich boy needed to be 'shown what for'.

Logan couldn't figure out why it was such a big deal that Katsuya won. The kid was obviously more experienced and a better player and the win wasn't really a test of skill. Warren just wasn't that good. He didn't say anything because at the moment he felt very stupid for even being there. He hardly knew anything about the game other than the blond Japanese boy hadn't really put any effort into the match.

Katsuya left the stage with a final wave. When he got behind the curtains, he headed straight for Yugi and the others who had gone to the snack spread a minute before.

"Hey, Yuug," he called, picking up a plate and piling it high with chips, dip, and other various junk food. "What say we have that duel now?"

Yugi grinned and headed to a nearby card table half covered with a tool box, "Sounds good to me, but can we do it the old fashioned way. You know, cards and table only?"

Jou shrugged, swallowing his mouthful and joined his friend, "Sure, as long as I can duel you. Any particular reason though?"

"Kaiba wants to test out the full capabilities of the Duel Discs in a match against me. If I play against you using them, he'll just get mad and I really don't want to deal with a mad Kaiba."

"Figures he'd do something like that," the blond snorted and removed his deck from his disc system. "You want to go first?"

"You can," Yugi replied doing a quick shuffle. "Be warned, I do have Exodia in here."

"I can deal with that as long as you're going to give me your best."

"I always do."

Logan came over to the table and cleared his throat, "Jamie and me are going to find the others and wander around for the last hour. Are you going to be here for a while?"

Yugi nodded, "Yes. Jonouchi and I are going to duel."

"Fine. We'll meet you back here in an hour and then we have to head back to the Institute."

Yugi waved as the small man walked off, a hand on Jamie to keep him from running everywhere at once. When they were far enough away, Yugi turned back to Katsuya. A familiar smirk graced his lips as some of his bangs flew up and Yami/Yugi gave his best friend his undivided attention, "Let's duel."

Jou returned the smirk, "I play Flame Swordsman!"

*****000*****

Kitty and Anzu walked up the steps of the museum, waving at Hiroto and Ryou, who were waiting at the top. Anzu linked her arm with Kitty's and whispered in her ear, "Did you know that Ryou is single?"

Kitty giggled and blushed, "Really? Is that a hint?"

"More of a prelude… I think he's been checking you out in class. I think he likes you," Anzu replied and then they were within hearing range of the boys. "Hi guys! How was the ride over?"

Hiroto snorted, "The same as usual when Ryou rides with me. Really bad because he clings to my waist so tight I can't breath."

Ryou gave his friend a mock glare, "I wouldn't hold on so tight if you didn't insist on pushing the sound barrier. You drive that thing far too fast."

"You can always ride the bus…" Hiroto threatened in reply, not meaning it at all.

Royu rolled his eyes and threatened in return, "…you can always study by yourself." He then turned to the girls, "Speaking of buses, how was your trip?"

Anzu grinned, "Just wonderful. I told Kitty all about the exhibit."

It may have been her imagination, but both Royu and Hiroto seemed to tense up and the British boy replied, "Everything?"

"Well, not _everything_," Anzu rolled her eyes, hoping the two caught the double meaning. "I haven't even covered the legends of the Pharaoh's tablets." The brunette pulled Kitty inside, the boys following behind, both seemingly relieved.

Kitty looked curiously from one to the other, "What's the Pharaoh's tablets?"

"They are the only record of when Pharaoh Yami ruled Egypt and saved the world from a great evil by sealing it away," a new voice answered. Stepping out from behind a nearby pillar, a woman in her twenties dressed in an Egyptian Muslin gown, came and met the group. "I am Ishizu Ishtar, Curator of the Egyptian Exhibit here at the Domino Museum. And I am also one of the most knowledgeable people in the world when it comes to Ancient Egyptian Legends. Especially where they concern the game of Duel Monsters." The woman held out her hand to Kitty, "Bakura and the others told me about you. It is a pleasure."

"Like, it's nice to meet you, too," Kitty replied, taking the offered hand and giving it a quick pump. "Am I allowed to take pictures? Because my friends back home are doing this project on Egypt and all they have is some stuff from the Metropolitan Museum. If I could send them some pictures of other artifacts, it would help."

Ishizu raised an eyebrow, "Really? It seems everyone is interested in Egypt these days…" The woman smiled and turned around, "You may take all the pictures you like. I just ask that you do not share them outside of your friends. If you do, I may be forced to sue." The Egyptian glanced over at Ryou, "Malik said he would like to speak with you, Bakura-kun. Something about an e-mail he received that he thought you find hilarious."

Royu seemed to space out a moment before his eyes darkened and a curious and somewhat evil smirk formed on his lips, "Is that so? You wouldn't know if it had anything to do with a person named Mesmero, would you?"

Kitty nearly choked on the gum she had just stuck in her mouth. After a few moments of making a fool of herself by thumping on her chest and coughing, she told the worried faces she was fine. Her thoughts were running wild and she wanted to remember every word spoken. If Mesmero was up to something, she needed to have as much information as possible to tell to the X-Men. The bigger question, though, was why he was contacting Ryou's friend.

Ishizu shook her head slightly and turned back to Ryou, not worried in the least about his sudden attitude change, "He didn't say. He just asked me to tell you to come see him. He's at home with Rashid, right now. So if you wish to see him, now would be a good time as it is easier to find him. That and he motioned something about raising some hell later tonight."

Bakura's evil grin widened, "I'd love to go see the prick. Haven't beaten anyone up lately. We can go out and find a few victims." He turned around and headed down the steps as everyone but Ishizu stared at him. Kitty was the only one whose stare didn't include a trace of fear, just amazement.

About three steps down he stopped and glared at nothing. His face scrunched and he seemed to be fighting with himself. "Fine! Stay then," he spat out and a moment later a second Ryou appeared. The first slapped his face and groaned, the second laughed manically as he jumped the last few steps and headed west on the street.

Kitty's eyes were wide and Anzu and Hiroto were shifting nervously, both trying to decide what mattered more: Kitty seeing that or the spirit in Ryou's ring obviously being back and in control.

Hiroto was the first to reach a decision and ran over to his friend, "Ryou? You alright buddy?"

The white haired boy nodded and looked over at the exchange student, "I'm fine Honda… He didn't do anything except insult me and separate… I'm more worried about… well…" He didn't need to finish as it was obvious what he was worried about.

Kitty blinked and looked at the other three, then brought her stare back to the Brit and spoke in a far calmer voice than expected, "Well, that was different."

*****000*****

The spirit of the ring kept chuckling long after he had left Ryou. It was fun leaving his host in a lurch. The boy did such a wonderful job of beating himself up over those situations that all the spirit had to do was put the boy in them. Then he could relax and watch the fireworks. He snickered again and tucked his hands in his pockets. The emotions running off of Ryou right now were hilarious.

He half wished he could stay and watch the flustered look that always came over Ryou's face but he could see that another time. And besides, whatever Malik wanted to show him was sure to be good. And after they were done with that business, then maybe Malik would be in the mood to go out and have some fun. The spirit really wanted to torture someone today and the blond could always come up with some fun ideas. Ishizu was deluding herself if she thought Yami's banishing the evil spirit within Malik had made him a 'good' person. Malik enjoyed being evil as much as the spirit of the ring did.

It didn't take long for the spirit to get to the high rise Ishizu and Malik shared with Rashid, their protector and self-proclaimed brother. He visited often enough that the guard at the front door didn't even blink when he walked right through the doors and into the lobby. As far as the man was concerned, if the white-haired crazy boy wanted to visit the blond-haired crazy boy, he wasn't going to stand in either of their ways.

The spirit rode the elevator to the pent house and stepped out into a luxurious entrance hall lined with ancient pottery atop pedestals. The Ishtar clan collected more than just Egyptian artifacts. They had a rather noteworthy collection of Greek and Aztec art as well. A rather expensive collection, too. Someone could get very rich if he were to take even a single tiny medallion off of one of the masks hanging on the walls. If he just took that medallion and sold it on the black market, said man could get at least 50,000 for it. At least.

Rashid cleared his throat and the spirit of the ring spun around, his hand coming away from the mask, sans medallion. The tall, bald man raised an eyebrow, "I see you got Malik's message, Bakura. You could be more considerate and not attempt to steal from your friend. It's not like you need the money."

The spirit smirked and crossed his arms, "It's the principle of the matter. I have this need, stealing-and selling stolen-items fulfills it. Besides, it's not like you need the artifacts."

Rashid turned around and waved for the spirit to follow him, "It's the principle of the matter. Malik is in his room, doing something that involves lots of cackling that for some reason he won't tell me about. He said you were the only one who had a right to know."

"Jealous?"

"Yes. He is my brother, if only in spirit, and used to share everything with me. Now, you are the one he wants to share with."

The spirit snorted and discreetly pocketed a small crystal figurine, "You're not willing to fuck him."

"And you are?"

"Maybe. And besides, I know all the best women in town to get laid with." The spirit like getting on Rashid's nerves. It took some effort, but the results were worth the extra time.

Rashid looked over his shoulder as he stopped outside Malik's room, a glare targeting the spirit, "You are a bad influence on my brother."

The spirit smiled and walked past, "But he's a great influence on me." He knocked once, paused, and knocked three more times on the door. A click sounded and the door opened to reveal the blond, shirtless with bags under his eyes. He almost looked as insane as the evil spirit that once possessed him. Almost.

"Khaibit! Ishizu gave you my message, yes?" the Egyptian said, pulling the spirit inside and shutting the door on his guardian. He then locked it and headed back to his bed where several books were laid out along with fresh and crumpled pieces of paper.

The spirit gave Malik one of his best glares, "Yes I got your message and why do you insist on calling me that stupid name?"

Malik grinned plopped down on his bed, "Because you are a shadow, Khaibit. Anyway, I got this weird message from some guy calling himself Mesmero, and his name isn't the only funny thing…"

*****000*****

Ishizu raised an eyebrow at the groups reaction, "I take it you did not know?"

Hiroto leveled a glare at the woman, "Well, I knew, but Kitty here didn't and if you knew, why do you encourage it?"

The Egyptian shrugged, "My brother has no other friends and Rashid acts more like a servant than a brother. It seems right to encourage a friendship."

Kitty shuffled he feet a moment and then crossed her arms, "So is anyone, like, going to clue me in as to what's going on?"

Anzu cringed and grimaced, "Well, see… Ryou… has a split personality. Literally. One side is the nice, shy Ryou we've all come to know and love. The other is the cruel, sadistic other half that we've all come to know and loathe."

Hiroto gave Kitty a strange look, "You're taking this rather well."

Kitty laughed, "I've seen and done stranger things. You learn to deal with the weird when you're a mutant."

Ryou blinked, "A mutant?"

"Sure, like you. You can split in two, with two halves."

"You have a darker, evil half?"

Kitty snorted, "No, I have a different power. Most mutants don't share the same abilities. Me, I can walk through stuff."

"Wait a second," Hiroto held up his hand and locked eyes with the X-man, "You mean to tell us you have powers like Sunfire?"

"Well, yeah," Kitty replied, shrugging. "what's so strange about that? You don't think twice about Ryou being a mutant."

Ryou's eyes widened with understanding. The boy smiled as he realized that they wouldn't have to tell Kitty anything else about the Shadow Games or the Millennium items other than the vague legends they were already planning on telling her during the tour. He would still get quite a talking to by Mazaki and Honda, but the exchange student would accept him and his troubling other half without any problems.

And speaking of Honda, the idiot was bout to spill the beans. Ryou elbowed his friend, forcing the boy to shut his mouth before he could say anything, "They're used to me, is all. What's your ability? You can walk through things?"

Kitty nodded her head and winked, "Yep. Want to see?"

"Of course! It's nice not being the only weirdo."

The exchange student laughed and turned around, walking straight for the column Ishizu had been hiding behind moments before. When she was about a foot away, she stopped and stuck out her arm. It went right through the stone, to the amazement of everyone else, including Ishizu, who was very used to strange things happening.

Ryou looked down at his feet, "I wish I could do something like that… You know, instead of having the evil twin."

Kitty pulled her arm back and walked over to her new friend, happy not to have to hide anymore, "My teacher once told me that we're all given our gifts for a reason and that it's not what gift you have that matters. It's how you use it. I'm sure your 'evil twin' as you call him, is just as good as you deep down inside. After all, he is you, right? Do you have any control over him? My friend Jamie has a power like that, only he can make dozens of himself and usually can't control when it happens. But he can control all his separate selves."

Ryou shook his head, "No. He does what he wants. The only control I have is the fact that he has to come back to me. I think that if he could, he would never choose to do so. He hates me, or so he says."

Kitty was confused and let the boy know it, "But if he's just a part of you, that means you would have to hate yourself."

Ryou went back to looking at his shoes, "You're very perceptive, Katherine. Now if you'll all excuse me, I don't much feel like seeing the exhibit anymore. Enjoy yourselves." With that, the white-haired boy walked down the steps in the direction his other half had gone. The rest of the group was left speechless and unsure of what to do.

*****000*****

Back in New York, Jamie was having the time of his life while Logan was praying to whoever would listen for the earth to open up and swallow him whole. Everywhere the man turned it was 'Duel Monster' this and 'Duel Monster' that. How could so many people be obsessed with the freaky game? And he was about ready to knock the next kid who stepped on his toes across the room. It was a very safe bet that the man would be out drinking later that night.

Jamie grabbed his hand and pulled him over to some large capsules that looked like they came from a sci-fi movie. Or Hank's lab. Whichever. Jamie grinned and went up to the man guarding the machines, "What are these?"

The man snorted and pointed to a sign, "Can't you read kid? These are the modules for the Duel Monsters Virtual World. They'll be coming to the U.S. sometime next year."

Jamie's eyes widened, "These are working models?"

"Yeah. Why? You want to try them out?"

"Can I? That would be great!"

A girl with blond hair done up in pig-tails came up behind Jamie, "You can't use them. You don't even have a deck!"

Jamie glared, "So? I can get a deck. What do you know, anyway? You're just a stupid girl."

The girl put her hands on her hips, "Shows what you know, idiot. I happen to be the United States Duel Monsters Champion. And sixth place in the World League. Only five people have ever beaten me in a duel. And on top of that, I happen to be a genius. My I.Q. is way above yours. Isn't that right Teddy?" She placed the bear she was holding in front of her face and moved it around while speaking in a deeper voice, "That's right Rebecca! He's just a stupid boy. Grr!"

Logan almost burst out laughing. That little scene had to be the funniest thing he'd seen all day. Jamie rolled his eyes, "Oh yeah? And who beat you? Your mommy?"

"No! Only five people have beat me and you're probably too stupid to know who they are, but I'll tell you anyways that way, when you do find out who they are, you'll know you were in the presence of a great duelist. Jonouchi Katsuya, Pegasus Crawford, Mai Valentine, Kaiba Seto, and Motou Yugi. I've only been beaten by the very best! Although Katsuya's win was just a fluke."

Jamie snorted and crossed his arms, "I don't doubt you've been beaten into the ground, but by only them? Ha! I bet Yugi Motou would tell a different story, if he's even heard of you. He happens to be a friend of mine." Jamie held up his all access pass, "He even got me into this convention with all the perks."

Rebecca's eyes widened, "Yugi's here? Really? Oh, I have to say hi to him!" She ran over to the nearest security guard and started talking to him franticly. After a moment, he spoke into his walkie-talkie and then nodded his head at the girl.

She skipped back over to Jamie, "I got the guard to tell Yugi I'm here and to come see me at the Virtual Pods! Now we'll see who's lying."

Jamie, now very unsure of himself, stood with the girl and waited for their mutual friend. Though, it did elude his mind as to how Yugi could be friends with such an obnoxious girl.

About ten minutes passed before Yugi and Jonouchi were led through a nearby Security entrance. Jamie caught sight of him first and waved, "Yugi! Over here!"

Rebecca spun around, "YUGI! It's so good to see you again!"

The Japanese boy trotted up to the two, "Hey Rebecca! How have you been? I see you've met my friend Jamie."

The girl giggled and hugged her teddy, "I'm fine. My deck is nearly unbeatable now. I bet I could even give you a run for your money with it. It's still very close to what my grandfather taught me, but I've worked it so the card you gave me ties in with all the others. Oh, yeah, I met the dumb kid, too."

"Rebecca, he's not dumb," Yugi admonished his friend, "He's my friend and he happens to be very smart for a twelve year old. Just because you're ten and have already graduated college, it doesn't give you the right to call other people stupid."

Jamie started, "You're TEN?! And you still carry around a stupid bear?"

Yugi sighed as Rebecca gave Jamie another glare, "Yes, I'm ten. And Mr. Bear isn't stupid. He's ten times as smart as you."

"Rebecca, please!" Yugi groaned, "Can't you and Jamie get along? You're both my friends and neither of you are stupid, okay?"

The two children gave each other a once over and replied at the same time, "We'll see."

Trying to get as much tension out of the air as possible, Yugi tried a different approach, "So Rebecca, where's Professor Hawkins? I'd love to say hello to him. And I'm sure Jii-chan would like to hear how he's doing."

Rebecca grinned, "Grandpa's not here. He's in Egypt. A new tomb was uncovered last week and grandpa says it has some connection to Duel Monsters. It might even be the tomb of the Pharaoh of the Shadows. You know, the one that supposedly had the power of the Shadow Games? Grandpa thinks it might be his tomb because the entrance hall has all sorts of Duel Monster carvings on its walls. And the first main chamber, which they haven't been able to get past yet, has this really weird ceiling. Apparently it has an inverted triangle with the Eye of Ra in the middle carved into it. At least I think it's the eye of Ra. It might be the Eye of Set… You know, the eye without the curly tails on the bottom?" Rebecca pointed at the Millennium puzzle, "Like the eye on your puzzle but without the lines hanging off of it."

Yugi's eyebrows raised, "Really? He thinks it might be the Pharaoh's tomb?" Within the boy's mind, Yami was strangely silent. They both knew it couldn't be the Pharaoh's tomb, since Shadi and the Ishtars kept watch over that and only certain people were let in.

The girl nodded, "Uh-huh. Apparently there's what looks like a statue of a king against the very far wall of the first main chamber that has indentions obviously made to hold something. There are seven spots. Grandpa thinks they're for the fabled Millennium Items that hold the power of the Shadow Games, like in the legends. All legends have a basis in truth, you know. So it's very possible that the people of that time built a tomb for the Pharaoh and had figures of the items made to honor him. Grandpa says the strangest thing about the tomb is it looks like it's been visited before, only nothing seems to have been disturbed. In fact, it looks to be very well kept."

Yugi thought for a moment, leaving Yami to digest the information undisturbed, "Wow… so no statues or anything have been defiled?"

"There are no statues. It's only the entrance hall and first main chamber. Granted a lot of the later burial parties have statues and items in those places, but the earliest ones, from about the time this was made, had all the statues and treasures in an ante-chamber off to one-side of the main burial chamber. So the only things of interest in this tomb are the wall decorations. You should know that. You're studying to be an archaeologist"

Katsuya cleared his throat and entered the conversation, slightly tired of the English he couldn't understand, "Hey, Yuug… I know we've been in the virtual world and all, but what say we go again with Rebecca and your other friend? It'd be cool trying to win with a genius on our side and I'm sure Rebecca won't be bad company either."

The girl glared at Jou, who just smiled down at the girl. Yugi sighed and shook his head, "I guess we still have fifteen minutes or so before I have to leave. We can go for a quick run." The boy switched back to English, "Hey Jamie, want to take a go at the Virtual world with me, Jou and Rebecca here?"

Jamie blushed, "I'd like to, but I don't have a deck or anything…"

"That's alright, you don't need a deck if you have the three of us with you. We're all good enough to keep you alive. And Jou and I have already been in there. So we know something of what will happen."

Jamie grinned, "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

In the back of Yugi's mind, Yami paced, trying to remember why the tomb Rebecca had told them about was so important. And why it made the spirit so uneasy to have people attempting to explore it.

*****000*****

End Chapter

Sunfire, for those of you who don't know, is a Japanese mutant featured few and far between in the X-Men comics. I just upped his fame a little in this story.


	9. Chapter 8

**The Fourth "God"**

A Yu-Gi-Oh!/X-Men: Evolution crossover fic.

Written by Rogue Moon

"_Perhaps you are right. I've had a pretty _easy_ life so far, I guess… Not at all like _you_. For example: I never had to worry about optic beams… I've only been _blue_ and _furry_ since I was born!"_

~ Nightcrawler to Cyclops, X-Men # 109, _Home are the Heroes!_, page 8

*****000*****

Chapter Eight

Kitty's eyes followed Bakura as he walked away, "Should we go after him?"

Honda shook his head 'no' and tugged on Anzu's arm, "Come on, let's just see the exhibit. He'll have walked around enough to get his thoughts straight by the time we get done, if not before. Right Anzu?" He knew from experience that it was better to just let his friend wander then to bug him. Bugging him would only get him more depressed and that was never a good idea. Besides, Hiroto wanted to know more about Kitty and her power. And he refused to think about Ryou's darker half being back.

The brunette female nodded and linked arms with Kitty, "You're going to love the section with all the jewelry…"

*****000*****

The spirit of the ring, also called Khaibit by his less than reputible friend Malik, scowled in discust, "The baka sent me something similar. Only he wanted to barrow my two Items for a few days before giving all the Items to me. I don't know how he found out about me having the Eye, since even the Pharaoh no bakayaro doesn't. But he did."

Malik grinned and flipped through another couple of pages, not really paying attention to the book he had read five times before, "What's really funny is that he thought I'd want all the Items. I've never really been interested in them, except for the puzzle. If he thinks he knows what will attract my interest, he's a fool."

Khaibit closed the internet window and opened a new one, typing in an address for a site that sold spy equipment, "What gets me is that he sent me the same e-mail three times. If I didn't respond to it the first time, what makes him think I would respond to it a second time? Come here."

"Why?" the blond asked even as he stood and padded barefoot to stand behind the chair his friend sat in.

The thief pointed to the screen, emphasizing a particularly interesting picture, "The description says it can pick up sounds from three hundred yards away and is only half as big as the model most militarys use. That's almost twice the range of the one we have now. And this wearable pulley system they have is perfect for climbing walls…"

Malik leaned against the back of the chair, one hand moving his friends' long hair out of the way. After a moment of thought, he took the mouse from the spirits' grasp, earning him a growl, and clicked on different image a little further down the page, "I think I like this more than either of those."

The spirit grinned from ear to ear, irritation gone, "And once again you prove yourself worthy to by my accomplice. That is a wonderful little devise. Let's put in an order, shall we?" The spirit didn't even wait for an answer before starting to type in the order information. He, of course, used Ryou's address and Malik's credit card.

The blond didn't stop him, he was used to spending money like it was nothing, because to him, it was. Instead, he padded back to his bed and lay across it, opening the drawer of the table on the other side. After rummanging for a moment, he pulled out a few pieces of gold jewelry and a brush, "So, where are we going tonight?"

"Ryou wants to go to the Karaoke bar with Honda, Mazaki and the exchange student. I figured we could head there and pull some shit before hitting the clubs for easy marks. My stash of cash has started to get low and I don't feel like calling up 'Daddy' to get more," The thief answered, shutting down the computer and swiveling the chair around so he faced Malik, who was putting in his earrings. Khaibit didn't like Ryou's father, for all he was the one that gave the ring to Ryou. There was something about the man that got on the spirit's nerves. Maybe it was the way he treated his host. The man was never there for Ryou, not that the spirit really cared, but Ryou's loneliness because of it was always there. Almost solid in its intensity… annoyingly so.

*****000*****

Yugi waved goodbye to Jonouchi and Rebecca as he and the others left the convention. He, Jamie, Jou and Becky had had a great half hour playing in the Virtual world. To both his and Katsuya's surprise, they hadn't played in the scenario with the Legendary Dragon. They instead got to try out the demo version of Kaiba's newest adventure. Jou's only complaint was that the girls were wearing too much. And that was saying something since the newest adventure took place in ancient Rome. Rebecca was quick to point out that the garments were not to period, but instead were what was commonly accepted as being period. Naturally no one really cared, but Yugi indulged her anyway just because she was his friend. After they left the scenario, Mossback had gotten Yugi to give him the address of the Institute so Seto could come and 'visit'. Terrorize and antagonize and intimidate were all better word choices that Mossback didn't use. He used 'visit'.

Just before they left the convention, Jou slapped his forehead and moaned, "Ah, man, Yuug… I almost forgot. Anzu wanted me to give you something… Well, give Yami something anyway. Now where did I put it?" The blond started digging through his pockets, making a big deal out of finding whatever it was. It took him a minute, but he finally found what he was looking for and held it out to Yugi.

The small boy took the gold necklace and raised an eyebrow "An empty cartouche?"

Jou shrugged, "She said he could put his real name in there where he remembers it."

"That's a great gift. Tell her we said thanks," Yugi replied, putting it on. Neither of the boys noticed Logan giving them a sharp look from where he was listening at the door.

Then Jou elbowed Yugi and pulled a video cassette in a nondescript box from the back of his trousers, "And this here is for the both of you. Enjoy!" With that, Katsuya waved and headed back into the convention. A minute later, his screams of, "Keep'em away!" could be heard filtering through the noise of human voices and girlish shrieks.

*****000*****

Warren Worthington the Third waved politely to a couple of girls who had reckonized him as the heir to a fortune and hastily climbed into the Limo that had pulled up for him. With a great sigh of relief, he leaned back against the leather and let his wings stretch out just a bit. Not enough that his driver would notice, but enough that they weren't too cramped. When he got home, he'd be able to dive off the penthouse rail and soar unobserved for a while. With that to look forward to, he could endure the car trip home.

The driver pulled away from the curb just as Jonouchi went back inside the Con. Warren gave the kid a glare through the tinted windows and then closed his eyes. He really hadn't expected to win, but he did resent losing.

Twenty minutes later he opened his eyes and glanced outside. The neighborhood was totally unfamiliar to him. He opened the window between himself and the driver, "Carson? Where are we? We should have been home by now."

The driver turned around and revealed himself to be James Thompson, his father's business partner. James smiled, "Actually, your father asked me to take you to the airport. He had to make a last minute flight and wanted us to meet him there. He has something he wants to tell you in person."

Warren sported a dumb look for a moment before his shoulders slumped and he slouched in his seat, "Oh… Figures. Just when he's finally in town, he has to go and leave again."

James gave a small, indulgent laugh and turned back around, "He has a company to run. It's what keeps you clothed and fed, you know?"

"He could do that if he were a garbage man," Warren grumbled to himself and stabbed the button to close the window between himself and James.

*****000*****

During the ride home, Yugi was mostly quiet on the outside as he and Yami had an internal conversation about the tomb Professor Hawkins was excavating. A conversation interrupted by the sudden activation of the Millennium Tanhk. Yugi went rigid as a small gasp escaped his lips. Kurt and Jamie noticed this and the blue furred one reached over to shake the boy, "Yugi? Are you al-" His sentence cut off as he touched Yugi and joined the vision.

The two were falling through a night sky. Below them, rushing to meet them, was a scene that could have come from an Egyptian based movie. Men in golden jewelry and robes of the finest linen stood in a circle chanting. In the middle of their circle, lit by torch light, was an alter with the distinct figure of Yami lying upon it, eyes closed. He was dressed in Egyptian finery befitting a Pharaoh.

Kurt let out a held breath as their decent stopped just above the alter. He looked to Yugi, who seemed oblivious to his presence as the boy's wide eyes were locked on the figure of Yami.

With a gasp, Yugi and Kurt came out of the vision. The sudden rush back to reality causing them to both suck in air like it was water in the desert. When Kurt came back to his senses, he realized Logan had pulled the car over and they were currently surrounded by the concerned faces of the others.

Scott was the first to speak when it was clear that the boys were aware, "What happened? Jamie says you spaced out Yugi, and then Kurt did the same."

Yugi looked up at the team leader with wide, innocent eyes that blinked in confusion, then looked back down at his puzzle. Kurt leaned back and slowed down his breathing to a more calm rhythm, "It was… I don't know. It was strange."

Yugi was more preoccupied with his darker half, _/Yami? Are you there?/_

There was no answer.

_/Yami?! Answer me!/_

And still silence from within as Yugi let out a pathetic, desperate plea,_ /please?/_ A tear slipped down his face.

Scott shook the small boy, forcing Yugi to look up at him, "Yugi? What's wrong? We need to know what happened and we can't help if we don't know."

Another tear fell and Yugi answered with a hollow voice, "He won't answer… I can't feel him…" The loneliness was overwhelming. He hadn't realized how much he depended on Yami's presence. It seemed to have been an eternity since he had last been without it. But now it was gone. And he was alone. Completely alone. No support from that great pillar of strength within. No comforting warm presence. Gone, all gone. A tear fell from his near vacant eyes, "Yami..."

Logan shook him lightly on the shoulder, so as not to hurt him, "Kid? What's the matter? What happened? What about your brother?"

Yugi's eyes slowly swiveled up and focused on the Canadian's face. Complete loss and hopelessness poured from them as puddles threatened to spill. He hiccuped and the dam broke. A thin, keening wail escaped his lips as he fell forward into Logan's chest. The Canadian, to say the least, was baffled and very much out of his element with a sixteen year old clinging to his chest and crying his eyes out. Awkwardly patting Yugi's back, he looked helplessly at the others, who were staring in shock at the boy.

Logan cleared his throat and addressed Kurt, "Hey, do you think you could _bamf_ the kid back to the Institute? See if Charles can make something of this? We'll meet you there in a half hour."

"R-right," Kurt replied. "Sure. I can do that. Yugi?" The German reached over and touched the boy on the shoulder, acting like the small boy was made of porcelain. "Yugi? We're going to the Institute, okay?"

Yugi didn't seem to hear him. He just kept crying. With a worried look at the others, Kurt teleported the two directly into his room. He knew it the best and with that long of a distance to teleport between, he needed to know his destination. As they bamfed out a small gold piece fell to the bed of Jeep. Logan raised an eyebrow and picked it up, examining it curiously. It didn't look anything he was familiar with any of the children wearing, but smelled like Yugi and Yami. He would ask the kid about it when they got back to the mansion.

*****000*****

They both arrived gasping for breath, Yugi's intakes interspersed with moans and hiccups. Kurt tried to focus and direct his thoughts, ::_Professor? Please... I... He... Yugi needs... I don't know. But he's hurt somehow.::_

Xavier responded, slightly bewildered and surprised, but willing to help as always, ::_Calm down, Kurt. Yes... Good... Now, tell me what the problem is.::_

_::Well, we were in the car, driving home and talking. Then Yugi went all still and stiff. We tried getting his attention, but we couldn't. So I touched his shoulder and... I don't know, it was veird. I felt like I was falling and the next thing I know, Logan had the car pulled over and Scott was shaking me. Then Yugi said something and Logan shook his shoulder and then...::_

_::I can see the rest,::_ the Professor interrupted ::_Do you have enough energy to bring him down to the Med Center? That's where I am.::_

Kurt nodded, not that Xavier could see, and pushed himself to his feet. Yugi's moaning and hiccuping had stopped and the boy was now curled in on himself, the puzzle held tightly to his chest. Kurt touched his shoulder and once more _bamfed_ through the institute. When they arrived in the Med lab, Kurt collasped to the floor. The effort of both _bamfs_ getting to him. Yugi was lucky enough to land on a bed. Hank helped his fellow blue-furred brethren to a bed of his own before seeing to the Japanese boy.

Yugi didn't seem to have registered the second _bamf_. Hank rolled him onto his back and snapped his fingers in front of the kids' face. There was no response and the scientist turned to Xavier, "Do you think you can get through to him while I get his vitals?"

Charles nodded and wheeled himself to the head of Yugi's bed, then closed his eyes in concentration. Before, when he had tried scanning the boy, shields tighter and stronger than an Byzantium cage had protected Yugi's mind from any access. But now it was like cutting through air. Xavier didn't have to work at all to get inside and within less than a second was standing on the mental plane within. Yugi's image of himself was standing between two doors. One looked fairly modern and was wide open; it looked into a room full of toys and games. Innocence radiated from it like a wave of heat. The other door, the one Yugi was pounding on and yelling at, looked old and had a stylized eye carved upon it. It was also shut tight and somehow radiated darkness.

Xavier reached out and touched Yugi on the shoulder. The boy shrieked, jumped and turned to face the man all at the same time. Wide eyes brimming with tears and fright took in the image of the professor as he tried to comprehend what he was seeing, "W-what? How? W-why?"

Charles dropped his hand and sent out soothing emotions in an attempt to calm the boy, "I'm a mutant, remember? My power is that of seeing into and communicating via the mind. I haven't been able to do this before because previously you and your brother have had such strong shields up."

Yugi looked at the closed door and lifted a hand to gently touch it, "…Yami." His hand fell and he looked at what could be considered the ground, "He's been keeping our minds shielded Just in case-" Yugi cut himself off and looked away from everything, rubbing his arm nervously. "Why are you here?"

Xavier took a step forward and touched the old door for a second. He could feel a dark presence behind it, trying to get out. It puzzled him but instead of asking about it, he answered Yugi, "I'm here to make sure you're all right. You didn't seem affected by Kurts' _bamfing_ you all over the place. And to find out what happened in the car. Kurt is a bit confused about it and you apparently experienced a shock. Care to explain?"

Yugi blushed and a feeling of 'messing up' washed over the Professor, "Well… see…It's hard to explain. But, um, to put it simply…Yami and I… We… um, we had a vision. Kind of like seeing the future, only not." Yugi's hands drifted to the pendant around his neck and he started to fiddle with the chain. "It was more like… seeing the past… or part of the past…"

The pendant looked odd to Xavier. Somehow it just didn't look correct. He also truly noticed for the first time that it was decorated with a stylized eye. The same eye that was on the old door. After a moment of study he realized what was wrong, "Your pendant… It's broken."

Yugi started, "Huh? Wha-?"

"Didn't it used to have a point on the bottom?"

The small boy looked down and lifted it up, "The puzzle?" His eyes went wide once more in realization. His head swiveled from the pendant to the old door and back again, "Oh Gods! Yami!" Then he was gone.

Well, he was still there, it was his mind after all, but he was no longer retreated into it. Leaving Xavier to examine it or leave it as he pleased.

*****000*****

Yugi sat up quickly on the bed and started patting down his clothes. Hank jumped back in surprise and in an effort to save himself from being knocked in the chin by the boy. Yugi was suddenly wide awake and energetic. The boy hopped off the bed and started patting down his clothes in a perfect imitation of what Katsuya had done earlier. As he searched through pockets, he got more and more frantic, muttering "Where is it?" over and over again. His urgency increased so much that he took off his jacket and shook it out violently. When that yielded nothing more than several loud _fwaps_, he repeated the process with his shirt.

*****000*****

Xavier left Yugi's mind as the boy's jacket came off. He could have stayed and found out every memory the boy had. But he had his own morals and they wouldn't let him pry into the secrets Yugi obviously wanted to keep. Instead, he rolled himself back around the bed as Yugi shook out his shirt in panic and fright. The Professor glanced over at Hank, who was nonchalantly picking up a video tape Yugi had pulled out from inside his jacket. Said boy was now sitting on the floor, misery pouring off of him. Xavier tilted his head at the television as he caught Hanks' eye. Perhaps a distraction would jolt Yugi enough to get him to talk. As it was, the Professor got the distinct impression that the boy would probably just sit there in his own dejection otherwise.

McCoy popped the tape in the player and after some fuzz, a teenager's face appeared, taking up the entire screen.

"_Hey Yuug! Guess what? This isn't the tape you wanted to barrow. Guess you could figure that out on your own, but I thought I'd tell you up front," the face spoke in Japanese. Yugi stood up in surprise as Katsuya's voice boomed through the room. The boy grinned all goofy as the camera turned around and showed a school hallway, "But this'll be just as good. I promise. Anzu suggested we send you something to remind you of us besides e-mail and I thought, what the heck?"_

_The camera panned around the hall, stopping on a group of girls and then zooming in on their backsides. Nothing could be seen for awhile but blue skirts, "Like I said, just as good…"_

_A female voice answered as the skirts were replaced by a pink jacket and blue bow tie. "Jonouchi Katsuya, what do you think you are doing?"_

_The camera panned up to the girl's face, "Hey Anzu! I'm making a video to send to Yugi and remind him that we're all still alive."_

_Anzu got a surprised look, "Really? Oh, that's a great idea! Hi Yugi! We miss you!" She waved into the camera as Jou zoomed back out. "I hope you're having fun. And that Yami's doing okay. Ishizu's research still hasn't turned up anything new. But she did say the God cards were very important and…"_

"_Aw, Mazaki… He knows they're important. He wouldn't have risked so much in Battle City if they weren't. But come on, this isn't a 'remind-Yugi-of-his-responsibilities-video', okay?" The camera tilted around crazily as Jou used hand motions to express his displeasure. In the background the bell rang and Anzu yelped and ran for class, her feet could be seen in the camera lens as Jonouchi took a more sedate pace and turned it back around to focus on himself, "Don't you worry about nothin while you're over there hear me? Not the God Cards, not Kaiba, not the Millennium items, not even weather or not I'm ever going to let you see that video. You enjoy yourself… Me, I have to get to class. I'll add more to this later, promise." The tape went dark for a moment before Jonouchi's face filled it once again._

Hank stopped the tape, deciding to let Yugi see the rest on his own, and then put it on rewind. Xavier turned his attention back on Yugi who was looking down at his puzzle, now cradled in his hands. The Professor shook his head, it seemed his idea to shock the boy out of his depression hadn't worked. He would just have to wait until Yugi felt like talking.

*****000*****

Twenty minutes later, Yugi was sitting on the bed in the med lab, still cradling his puzzle and still not talking when Logan and the others walked in. The other children going over to see if Kurt was alright and Logan walking over to Yugi, "Hey, kid… You all right?"

He didn't get an answer and a moment later shrugged and turned around, "Fine, don't talk. By the way, you dropped this." He tossed the small piece of gold he had found into Yugi's lap and headed for the door.

The boy's eyes went wide and his heart started to beat faster. Gulping nervously, he picked up the final piece of the puzzle and clicked it into place, oblivious to the presence of the others. He also didn't register their stares as a glowing, stylized eye appeared on his forehead and the eye on the puzzle flashed briefly. His eyes glazed over and a few locks of his bangs seemed to defy gravity for a minute before they settled back into place. Yugi grinned happily and hugged the puzzle to his chest as he retreated into his own mind once more. Yami's door was wide open and the spirit stood waiting for his other half. The small boy rushed into his arms hugging him tightly. Yugi blubbered apology after apology and Yami answered each with his own apology and denial that Yugi was at fault over anything. Both ignorant of the secrets they had just revealed.

Xavier raised an eyebrow and shared a look with Logan as he wheeled out of the med lab, "It seems our young guests have a few things they forgot to mention."

The Canadian grunted and lit a cigar, "I say we force it out of them. I don't any more surprises."

"I don't think that would be wise. They are obviously hiding far more than we thought, but for all we know, that could be as much for our protection as it is for theirs."

"I'd rather know, and besides, I think they're lying about being brothers."

"And why would that be?"

"Because one of their friends said something about remembering Yami's real name."

"Pardon?"

Logan blew a smoke ring and pushed the button for the elevator, "At the convention Yugi ran across one of his friends. A kid called Katsuya. The boy gave Yugi a gold necklace with an ID tag that was empty. Said it was a gift from someone named Anzu. For when Yami remembered his real name. Wouldn't one of them know that? Even if they were separated at birth and found each other later? Wouldn't Yugi have heard stories of his long lost brother? And why wouldn't Yami go by whatever name he was given by the people that raised him? Why would he need to find out his real one?"

Xavier wheeled himself off the elevator and into the hall that led to his office, Logan following, "You are right, my friend. That does not make sense. Perhaps you are right that we should force them to reveal what they are hiding. But if we do, we should do it subtly, gently. We don't want them to decide to run on us. With how well Yami evaded you, I don't think it would be that hard for them to hide."

Logan pushed open the door to Charles' office, "I have an idea…"

*****000*****

Yugi left the sanctuary of his soul room and came to in the med lab. Kurt was sitting on a bed opposite him, staring in curiosity, his inducer off and his tail waving idly behind him. No one else was around.

Yugi sat up and looked around at the darkened room, "What happened? Where is everyone?"

Kurt grinned, "Finally! You're awake! What happened was you passed out or something and no one could get through to you. So they let you rest for a few hours-"

"A few hours?! I was out that long?"

"Yes," the fuzzy elf nodded, "and since I was told to stay in bed and nap, I decided to stay and wait for you to wake up."

"Why did you have to nap?"

"Because I pushed myself too hard with my _bamfing_. I have never teleported that far before. It exhausted me."

Yugi mouthed a silent 'oh' and pushed himself off the bed. His stomach gurgling as he landed and he gave Kurt a sheepish grin, "You said I was out a few hours… I don't suppose dinners' already been served, has it?"

Kurt laughed and got off his own bed, "I don't think they'll mind us scrounging in the kitchen for a meal. Come on, lets get some food!" The blue one grabbed Yugi's wrist and _bamfed_ them into the kitchen where they throughly raided the fridge before heading to bed. Kurt had an early morning Danger Room session and Yugi had a late morning one.

*****000*****

End Chapter


	10. Chapter 9

**The Fourth "God"**

A Yu-Gi-Oh!/X-Men: Evolution crossover fic.

Written by Rogue Moon

"_I lie to Batman."_

~Robin to Superboy, Teen Titians #… oh, wait, wrong comic-verse…

*****000*****

Chapter Nine

The museum had been a great source of information for Kitty. Although some of what she had seen- and taken pictures of- confused her. Especially the tablets depicting Pharaoh 'Yami' and his opponent battling it out with Duel Monsters beneath the image of the god cards from Duel Monsters. If the tablets were real… then maybe it was true that Pegasus Crawford got the idea for the game after visiting Egypt all those years ago.

The most disturbing bit of the day had, of course, been when Ryou had mentioned the e-mail from Mesmero. She couldn't stop thinking about it and had wanted to ask Ryou about it, but the opportunity just hadn't come up, what with the white-haired boy wandering off on his own and the tour and all. But the group was meeting up with the boy at a karaoke bar, so maybe she would have a chance to talk with him then.

Kitty and Anzu took the bus back to the Kame Game Shop, dropping off the things they wouldn't need and changing into their clubbing clothes. She may have had some important things to do that night, but Kitty still had to be in style.

Honda picked the girls up about an hour later, in Jonouchi's limo, no less. It seemed his friend gave him permission to barrow it for a night and he had picked Sunday because he figured they'd be tired after all the walking during the tour. The girls did not complain.

When they arrived at the bar, Ryou was already there, still dressed as he had been that morning. He greeted them with a sad smile, "Sorry about earlier… And I hope you will forgive me for tonight was well…"

Anzu spoke her puzzlement first, "Why? What's going to happen tonight?"

Ryou blushed, "Well, I tried to convince them not to come, but you know how _He_ is. He just walked right over my argument and…"

"Ryou! Oy! Ryou," the boy was interpreted by a new voice and a head that stuck out from the room the white-haired boy had been standing in front of. The blond boy who owned the voice grinned, "Khaibit says to get your ass back in here. He wants some entertainment and you've been waiting for your friends long enough." He looked past the shy boy, "And since it looks like they're here you have no excuse not to come back in here. Hello Slave, Honda, it's good to see you again."

Anzu glowered and growled, "I am NOT your slave, so stop calling me that."

"But you were!" the boy cackled and his head disappeared into the room.

The Japanese girl balled up her fists and marched past Ryou, "I'll show you a slave…"

Hiroto pulled her back, "Calm down, Mazaki! He's just doing that to goad you. You don't have to sink to his level."

"I'm not going to sink to his level… I'm going to slam down to it and crush him in the process! Ryou, why do you put up with him?"

The now embarrassed and shame-filled boy nervously shrugged his shoulders, "I really don't… it's just that _He_ does and they seem to get along pretty well and all.. and you know, it keeps _Him_ from causing too much trouble…" Ryou winced with pain and let out a small hiss, "We should get inside, they're getting impatient." He quickly turned around and entered the room.

*****000*****

Warren Worthington III, son of a multi-billionaire, sat in the back seat of his limo, pouting. It was all well and good that his father wanted him to come to the airport before he left- his father saying goodbye before a trip was a very rare occurrence and to be cherished when it happened- but he had been in the limo for far too long and his wings were getting cramped. If his normal driver had been there he would have thought nothing of stretching his wings; Carson was paid very well not to talk. But Mr. Thompson did not know of Warren's secret pride, so the boy had to sit with the worst muscle cramp this side of the pacific until they reached his father's private jet.

Almost an hour later, Mr. Thompson finally pulled the limo onto the runway his father rented. When the car came to a full stop, Warren practically jumped from the vehicle, not waiting for the door to be opened for him. It felt good to be standing, with the breeze blowing through the bottom of his primaries. Pulling his coat tighter around himself, he headed up the steps and into the plane. Knowing his father, he would be behind the wheel. As Warren headed down the length of the cabin, a sharp pain flared through the back of his neck and everything went black.

*****000*****

Kitty's first look into the room was greeted with the sight of Ryou heading over to one of the couches- the one the blond boy was sitting at, flipping through one of the song books- and a very nice view of a well-made butt being hugged by tight blue-jeans. The owner of said backside, was bent over the machine adjusting some dials.

"Hey, Khaibit! Set that to number four-oh-five-three," the blond called over, picking up the mic, and flicking it to see if it was on. A hollow echo from the speakers answered him an affirmative.

The bent over one, now identified as 'Khaibit' snorted, turned a few more knobs, and replied, "I'm not listening to you wail along to some Cher song."

"What's wrong with Cher? She happens to be a great singer. Besides, _Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves_ is a classic!"

Khaibit straightened up as Kitty settled into a couch opposite the blond and Ryou. The white-haired boy glared at his friend, "If I must be subjected to this music tonight, then it will not be Chers'. Ryou! Find me a song by Prince. His, at least, have substance." He paused for a moment, then shrugged to himself, "Well, some of them have substance."

Anzu and Hiroto joined Kitty on her couch just as Ryou called out a series of three numbers. The blond boy glared at Khaibit, "Oh, so you don't have to suffer through Cher, but I have to suffer through Prince? Some friend you are."

Khaibit rolled his eyes and growled in annoyance, "Fine! You can do one Cher song! But only one! Satisfied?"

The blond grinned and nodded, "Yes. Now set it to four-oh-five-three." Khaibit did as he was asked and his crazy friend headed up to the mini-stage that each room sported, bowing to the small crowd. "Welcome! Tonight you will be amazed by the great and most wonderful singer, Malik Ishtar!"

Ryou and Kitty clapped politely while Khaibit rolled his eyes and Anzu glared. Hiroto nervously tapped his fingers together, wanting something to break the tension rolling off his friend.

Malik bowed once more and then the song started. The group was amazed all right. It was quite apparent that he enjoyed his selection, as he didn't even use the word prompt to sing it. If what he was doing could be called singing. Some dogs were probably howling along outside somewhere. When the song finished, Kitty, Anzu and Hiroto were doing their best to be polite and not laugh outright, even if their expressions gave them away. Malik bowed again and stepped down to more of Ryou's polite clapping, ignoring the muffled giggles. Khaibit jumped up and snatched the mic from his friend, "That was your one song. Now for some Prince!"

Malik growled and sat down, "Fine! We'll listen to Prince, as long as it isn't _Raspberry Beret_, alright?'

The evil twin smirked, "Okay, I'll do _When Doves Cry._" He was answered with a moan of despair as he punched the start button and started in at almost a whisper. He ended up being a surprisingly good, if harsh-voiced, singer. Hiroto and Anzu seemed amazed that he was even singing, much less that he was actually good. Ryou looked rather happy as he leaned back and watched his darker half. It was these moments, although few and far between, that convinced him his other half was worth believing in and giving a chance to. Malik also leaned back, settling into the cloth, a semi-smirk gracing his lips as he listened. The blond only got to hear his friend sing on a few extremely rare occasions, and rather enjoyed the sound.

When the song ended, Khaibit set the mic down on top of the machine and trotted over to sit beside his light. "I hope I didn't make you suffer too much," He drawled sarcastically, knowing he had done a god job.

"Actually," Kitty piped up, "that was really good. Where did you learn to sing?"

The dark one looked over at her, as if acknowledging her presence for the first time and grunted, "Temple. They always had us chanting something or other to some God."

Kitty perked up, "Temple? You're Jewish? No way! I'm Jewish!"

Khaibit scoffed, "No, I'm not Jewish! I'm not some stupid sl-"

He was cut off by Ryou's elbow to the gut and hurried response, "No I'm not Jewish. But I lived in a heavily Jewish neighborhood when I was in England and father often had me go there for daycare and-"

This time Ryou was cut off by an angry Khaibit who backhanded him hard enough to send him reeling into Malik, "How dare you hit me! You pathetic, insignificant worm!" The darker half stood up and pulled Ryou to him by his collar, then threw him violently backward so that he ended up sprawled halfway across the stage. "You miserable, good for nothing excuse for a mortal! You know the rules! And you know what happens when you break them!"

Ryou started to push himself up as Khaibit advanced, only to be blocked by three people. Anzu knelt down next to Ryou, "That was uncalled for! Are you okay Ryou?"

Hiroto glared at the spirit as Kitty started chewing Khaibit out and poking him in the chest as she did so, "You stop it right now! Anzu's right: that was so totally uncalled for! I don't care why you act like this but it is completely wrong. If what Ryou said is true, then hurting him will only end up hurting you. All he did was try and keep you from insulting me. I don't know what you were going to call me, but apparently he did and I'm sure it was going to be something mean. You are such a jerk. No wonder Ryou hates having you around. No wonder he says he hates himself! He has to deal with you! But it's not himself he hates, I bet. No, I think he hates you!"

The spirit of the ring was very taken aback, so much so that he actually stepped backwards about a foot. He blinked in confusion at the girl before turning his shocked gaze to his host.

"Hate me?" he questioned with utter disbelief. "You hate me? H-how? How can you hate?" The spirit moved to the side so he could get a better view of his host. "You… you're all candy and goodness and light, how can you hate?" Panic seeped into Khaibit's voice, "How can you hate me? Where have you been hiding it? What part can't I see into? What else have you been hiding? You swore not to hide anything from me! You swore on your sister's grave!"

Ryou's mouth opened and closed many times in an attempt to speak before he gave up on it and simply burst into tears where he lay. Khaibit became furious and started yelling, "Stop that! Stop crying! You always cry! Can't you just deal with reality! Can't you stop pitying yourself for one moment and-"

"Khaibit!" Malik's voice cut in, interrupting his friend and drawing his attention away from Ryou. "This will get you no where. Either of you. Think about it. He doesn't hate you. He isn't capable of it. He may be angry with you, but he can't hate you. And he can't hide anything from you either. His mind is as clear to see as a blank page. Even now, when I no longer hold the Rod, I can read him clearly. Look inside him. He doesn't hate you and he hides nothing from you. He's just scared and embarrassed that you went off on him in front of his friends." Malik ran his hands through his hair and stood up, going for his jacket. "Hurry up and take him over if you're that worried, you stupid hot-headed fool. I swear, I can't take you anywhere."

Khaibit glared at Malik and then huffed, closing his eyes and- with a visible effort- calmed himself down. Taking a deep breath he opened his eyes again to look down on his sobbing counter-part. He shook his head and sighed loudly, "Stop crying and stand up, already. You're only embarrassing yourself by laying there."

Ryou tried to calm himself with a deep breath as this shadow had, but only ended up giving himself a case of the hiccups. Which he then attempted to talk through, "I'm sorry. I j-_hic_-just didn't w-_hic_-want you to, t-_hic_-to say that to K-_hic_-Katherine. I swear I w-_hic_-won't do that ag-_hic_-gain. I-"

Khaibit cut him off with a glare and then disappeared from sight. Anzu and Hiroto immediately backed off of Ryou who stopped crying and Kitty just looked around; confused for the third (maybe it was the fourth) time that day.

Ryou wiped his face off, then calmly went over to the couch and grabbed his coats. Putting one on, he slung the other over his shoulder and turned to the other three, "Ryou regrets to inform you that he won't be able to stay and chat." Khaibit smirked at them, "See you in class."

Malik and the spirit then walked out the door, chatting as though nothing had happened.

After that, Kitty and the others didn't really feel like sticking around. Hiroto had the limo drop the American off first and then took Anzu home before heading back to his place.

The day had been long and full of some strange happenings. Strange happenings that a certain X-Woman had to a duty to report back home on. Closing her eyes as she lay down in bed, Katherine Pryde concentrated really, really hard, :;_Professor? Can you hear me?::_

*****000*****

Three days after the Duel Monsters Convention, Logan finally came up with a plan that Xavier approved of. The rest, the Professor had felt, would have been too harsh and perhaps would have even made the situation worse. Especially after what Kitty had reported about another boy with a 'twin' that happened to know Yugi. Two mutants with similar powers were not unknown, but the similarities between how Yugi and Yami acted and what Shadowcat had told Charles about Ryou were just too close. Two 'good' boys with 'dark' twins, who all acted on their own, was not a coincidence as far as the Professor was concerned.

Ororo, for her part objected to all the plans as she hated any sort of harm coming to those in her charge.

So here it was, Tuesday, at just about lunch time, and Logan was going to start the first phase with brother #1. The short man had noticed Yami's strange fascination with the martial arts. Discussion of wars and fighting drew his interest as surely as a flame drew a moth. And he had a rather unhealthy fascination with weapons of said warfare, so long as Logan was concerned. The boy had a habit of turning discussions of different wars and into discussion of the many ways a weapon used in the battle could cause harm before laying the killing blow.

The Canadian found Yami eating lunch with Jamie and Ororo. Rahnae wasn't around for some reason. He would have to find out what was up with her later. Sitting down at the table, he popped his right-hand claws and stabbed some bread and meat off the large platter set in the middle of the other plates. Ororo and Jamie went on with their meals without missing a beat. Yami, on the other hand, had never seen Logan's claws before and stopped mid-bite to stare at the man as he retracted his claws and let his food fall onto a plate. Logan pretended to be surprised and raised an eyebrow at the boy, "Got a problem, bub?"

This drew the other two occupants of the table's attention to Logan and then to Yami. The twin swallowed what he had in his mouth and set his sandwich down, "Do that again." After a heartbeat of silence, the boy added, "Please."

Logan shrugged and fisted his hand, setting his elbow on the table as he once again popped his claws. Yami stood up and came around the table, fascination in his eyes. He reached his hand out to touch the metal and stopped short, looking over at the Canadian, "May I?"

Logan shrugged again, eyes intent on catching the twin's reaction, "Your fault if you get hurt. Be warned, kid, they're sharp."

Yami's hand started forward again and hovered over the claws for a second before touching the top of one. He then ran his hand down the length of it, to the tip where the sharp side of the blade started and barely touched the point. Logan watched for the telltale drop of blood that should have sprouted on the boy's finger. There was none. Narrowing his eyes, the Canadian accidentally-on purpose shifted his hand to give Yami's palm a shallow cut as he retraced his claws. Yami let out a hiss of pain.

"Shit! Sorry, kid! Did I get you?" Logan asked as if he cared and grabbed Yami's hand to take a look. He let out a fake breath of relief at the sight of Yami's un-marred skin, "Looks like I didn't. That's good. Don't want you getting yourself hurt 'cause of me. Chuck would have my head."

Yami gulped his breath a couple times, "Yes, it is… I think I'll go back to eating now, if you don't mind."

The Canadian nodded and gave Ororo a meaningful stare, "Yeah, you do that. I think I'll take my meal and go find Rahnae. See ya later."

Yami sat back down in his chair and rubbed his hand where he had been cut, letting his mind wander to Yugi, _//Aibou?//_

_/Yami! Are you alright? My hand just got cut! Are you okay?!/ _Yugi's panicked voice filled the spirit's head.

Yami cut him off with a flow of assurance, _//I'm fine. I just got a little too close to Logan's claws. They are rather sharp. Can you heal that? Is it a deep cut?/_

_/No and No. It's not that deep and I really can't heal it. I'm not exactly in a place I can stay hidden long enough to get through the ritual. Besides, it's not bad enough that it'll get in the way. If anyone asks, I'll just say I tripped and skidded a bit on the concrete. Or something. I've got to go. The next bell will ring soon and I've spent enough time in the men's room. See you later,/_ a wave of love came through their link before Yugi cut Yami off. The darker twin finished his meal and headed back to his classroom within the mansion, safe in the belief that no one would think twice about the cut later.

*****000*****

Two periods after Yami got a hold of his light, said boy was getting ready for gym class. He hadn't been at the school for very long, but already bullies had targeted him. They didn't do more than tease him during class so Yami hadn't taken care of them. Yugi didn't think that getting teased deserved a shadow game, but the insults they threw were getting worse and harder and harder to ignore. Especially the ones from a group of jerks that never participated in class. They didn't seem to get in trouble for it and Yugi got the impression that even the teacher was afraid them.

The ringleader was some white-haired jerk that spoke real fast. Jockeying for the position of favorite stooge was a very tall, very fat guy with a mohawk and a rather ugly boy with slightly green skin. The latter almost always dressed in torn and dirt-stained clothes. The last member of the quartet was a kid with shoulder length brown hair and what looked like a permanent scowl. He didn't talk a lot, but laughed along with the rest.

Yugi didn't know any of their names, not really caring to associate with any of them. And as long as they didn't do more than tease, Yugi wouldn't have to worry about them past Gym class each day.

The small boy finished pulling on his gym clothes and headed outside to the track with the rest of the boys in his class. It was a nice day so the teacher was having them run the mile. The Japanese boy was one of the few who weren't complaining about it. Running was something he could do. Granted he only got good at it because he would have otherwise been late for class or pummeled by over aggressive bullies, but at least he was good at it. He would have no problem finishing within ten minutes and then he would have the rest of the class to do whatever with.

When he and the others arrived on the field, the ringleader of the bullies was running in place at the start line grinning at the teacher.

"Come on Coach! Start the clock already! I'm going to set a new school record. Heck, I'm going to set a new speed record for the world! The Universe even! I plan on breaking my own record!" He yelled out, overly eager as far as Yugi was concerned.

The teacher wasn't about to give in, it was his class and he was going to keep in control, "I'll start the clock when the others for the first wave are lined up and ready to go. So just hold your horses, Maximov."

The speed-demon sighed in frustration and glared at all the slowpokes taking their sweet time getting to the field.

The teacher started reading off names for the first wave. Yugi heard his name and joined the other nine that were in the first run. Everyone seemed to drift to the other end of the starting line, as far away from the white-haired boy as possible. This gave Yugi plenty of room to stand and wait for the command to start. The speed-demon grinned over at the short boy, "Hey! It's the hair-gel freak! Bet you think you're really fast, right? Well, I'm the fastest guy in the world. The name's Quicksilver, remember that. You'll be able to tell all your friends that you got to eat my dust in Gym class. It's a great privilege, really-"

Thankfully for Yugi, the teacher called the start and everyone set off running. The Japanese boy lost sight of the white-haired boy as an oddly strong wind pushed at him. A minute or so later, Yugi looked back at the start line and saw 'Quicksilver' running in place next to the coach, mouth moving. Yugi shook his head in disbelief and muttered to himself, "All that talk and he doesn't even run the course…"

After Yugi finished, with a time of nine minutes forty-nine seconds- a personal best, he headed over to the grass others in his class were relaxing on. Plopping himself down, he pulled out his duel deck and started shuffling trough it, enjoying how the warmth from the sun on his back. The warmth left fairly quickly, at about the same time the sound of someone walking towards him reached his ears. Taking his attention from his cards, Yugi found himself looking up at 'Quicksilver' and company.

The white-haired boy smirked at him, "Hair-gel freak here got the second best score of the first run. Bet you think you're real fast, huh?"

Yugi closed his eyes and replied in as unfaltering a voice as he could produce, "Since the question was asked by a guy who did not even run: Yes. I do think I am fast."

Quicksilver frowned, "What do you mean, didn't even run? I ran the mile. It didn't take long, but I ran it."

Yugi didn't bother opening his eyes, his voice gaining confidence, "I looked back at the start line almost a minute into the run. You hadn't even left and you were standing next to the teacher, probably talking his ear off."

Yugi's cards were suddenly gone from his hand and it took a moment for his mind to comprehend their disappearance and a second moment for the signal to stop shuffling to reach is hands. Blinking in confusion, the small boy started looking around for his cards.

"Looking for these?" Quicksilver asked, leaning over and waving the missing deck in front of Yugi's face.

The Japanese boy snatched at his cards and stood up as they were pulled from his reach, "Give those back!"

"Make me, slowpoke!"

"I shouldn't have to! Those are mine! Now return them!"

Quicksilver shrugged and held the deck out to Yugi, "Okay."

"Thank you," the short boy replied, suddenly very wary, and took his cards from the outstretched hand. Ignoring how it would look, Yugi started to quickly shuffle through his deck, checking to make sure all his cards were there. They weren't.

"Hey, Toad, you're into that weird Duel Monsters game, right?" the ringleader asked, holding a single card out to the stooge with really bad hygiene. "Is this a good card?"

The boy, now dubbed 'Toad', took a good look at the card and grinned, "Sure is. The _Dark Magician_ is one of the rarest. It's the most powerful of the normal summoned spellcasters. Great card. Worth a lot!"

Yugi jumped at the hand holding his card, even as it was pulled from his reach. The ringleader seemed to be ignoring the short boy's pleas as he continued his conversation with Toad, "Really? That good huh? How much would you say it's worth?"

"Oh a good hundred dollars at least. To the right people, of course. Personally I prefer a good old-fashioned direct damage deck. Little monsters to eat away at your opponents' life points until…"

"Yeah, yeah sure. Whatever. How much would this one be worth?" Quicksilver held up another card and Toad had to hop rather high to look at it, what with it being held so high above Yugi's reach.

The sickly-looking boy scratched his head after landing, "I've never heard of a _Winged Dragon of Ra._ And I can't read the print on it. It looks like a foreign language card. Won't do us any good."

Yugi got tired of fruitlessly hopping in the air in an attempt to reach his card. Glaring at Quicksilver, he took a page from Rebecca's book and kicked the taller boy in the shins. The shock to the boy served its purpose and the ringleader dropped the two cards he had stolen. Yugi calmly snatched his cards from the air and put them back in his deck and then back into his pocket. It just now entered his mind that it might have been a bad idea to bring his cards to class. Hoping the bullies wouldn't beat him up as he walked away, he turned his back on them and wandered to a different part of the field until class was over with.

Quicksilver was left standing there looking stunned while Toad laughed at him. A smirk formed on the ringleaders' lips and he told his underling to shut up, "We need to find out more about him. I hear he's staying at the Institute. Which means he's probably a mutant. And that means we need to try and recruit him to Father's cause. And if we can't, then I want to know the best way to torture him."

*****000*****

End Chapter


	11. Chapter 10

**The Fourth "God"**

A Yu-Gi-Oh!/X-Men: Evolution crossover fic.

Written by Rogue Moon

::Intensive Rebuilding the X-Mansion::

X53.7282- 2 credits

F 4:30

Instructor: Forge

_Pride in one's house of learning shows true commitment to one's studies. Plus, Magneto just wrecked the place again._

~Xavier's School For Gifted Youngsters, Welcome Letter/Core Curriculum Outline

*****000*****

Chapter Ten

"I cut his hand Chuck. I know I didn't miss," Logan growled. The Canadian had been pacing in Xavier's office for the past twenty minutes, ready to find the brat and force him to talk. His intentions at lunch had changed when no drop of blood had shown up from the boy touching the sharp tip of his claw. Originally he had just wanted to get the boy relaxed/distracted enough that he could slip in some seemingly innocent but personal questions about the stupid pendant.

Charles, for his part, rationalized the incident in an attempt to keep the short man calm. "I believe you did cut his hand," the Professor replied, "but perhaps he has healing abilities akin to yours. Perhaps he wishes to hide all of his powers. The knowledge that he is sharing a roof with others like him may let him relax, but it doesn't mean he's willing to trust. Perhaps he doesn't know the full extent of his powers. It is also possible that some of his powers are not mutant in nature, but rather, supernatural."

Logan raised an eyebrow, "You don't mean…?"

The professor nodded, steepling his fingers, "I am not so narrow-minded as to believe all 'mystical' occurrences in the world are mutant powers going awry. Humans and mutants alike have dabbled in the occult. Ororo was once worshiped as a goddess and her people employed decidedly non-mutant powers to keep her with them. She has dabbled in such 'magiks'. Perhaps our young guests have done so as well. If only to try and find an explanation for their abilities."

The Canadian stopped his pacing and put an unlit cigar in his mouth and chewed on the end. Xavier waited politely while his friend thought it over. Logan pulled the unlit cigar from his mouth, "Let's say that last possibility is right. How do we test it?"

*****000*****

When the final bell rang, Yugi was one of the first out the door. He wanted to get to back to Yami, where he felt safe. The bully from gym had been bumping into him at every chance since that class ended. The small boy knew when he was being stalked and did not like it one bit.

He was halfway to the convertible when he came to a crashing halt. Quicksilver appeared out of seemingly nowhere and stood directly in Yugi's path; there was no time for him to stop. The Japanese boy fell backwards and landed hard, his book bag skidding a foot or two away.

Quicksilver put his hands on his hips and leaned down to look Yugi directly in the eyes. Grinning like a madman, he greeted the boy like an old friend, "Hey Yugi! It's rude not to introduce yourself to someone. I had to find out your name from some of your classmates. We didn't get to finish our conversation in Gym. I'd love to hear more about those cards of yours and Toad wants to see what you got, too. He likes that card game. Maybe you can come over to our place and you guys can hang out, huh? What do you say?"

Yugi stared up at his newest tormentor and said nothing. He was still trying to process what had happened with the fall and all the words that had poured so fast from Quicksilver's lips. How had the bully gotten in front of him like that? It didn't make sense and instead of answering the mutant's questions, Yugi asked one of his own, "How… how did you do that?

Pietro straightened up, "Dowhat?"

"Get in front of me," Yugi replied, standing up and collecting his backpack, "one second you were not there, and the next… you were."

"You don't know? I figured you would, since you're staying with the X-Babies and all."

Yugi's eyebrows scrunched in mild confusion, "No… What do I not know?"

Pietro grinned wider and pointed at himself, "I'm a mutant. So is Toad, Avalanche and Blob. You know, the guys I hang around with. You really didn't know?"

Yugi shook his head 'no' and adjusted his bag's shoulder strap, "They never said anything about other mutants in school. I just assumed they were the only ones. What do you want with me?"

"I want to be your friend, what else?"

"Then why have you been insulting me in class? And why did you steal my deck?"

Pietro shrugged and crossed his arms, "It was something to do. And I didn't know you were staying at the institute until earlier today. Its not often new blood comes into town. New mutant blood, anyway. If I had known you were one of us, I would have said 'hi' a lot sooner. Have to be really careful about who you're nice to, you know. Say the wrong thing to the wrong person and BAM! There you are, dead! Just because you're a mutant. Just 'cause you're a little different. So what's your power?"

Yugi waited moment before replying, "What's yours?"

"You tell me yours, I'll tell you mine, eh? Okay. Sure. I'm super fast. The fastest man in the world. That's why I'm called Quicksilver. My real name is Pietro Maximov. Your turn."

"My name is Yugi Motou and I can… shield myself," He answered, remembering what Yami had told him to say to the others. "From stuff hitting me. Sometimes. I really can't control it. But I'm working on it. So… if you're super fast, then you really _did_ run the mile?"

Pietro grinned proudly, "Yep! And I did it two seconds faster than last lime. I think it should have been recorded as four seconds faster, though. I think the teacher's watch is slow. Well, I think everything's slow, so it's no real surprise." The boy's eyes looked past Yugi for a moment. "Well, looks like the Scout troop is here. See ya around!" And then he was gone, a cloud of dust the only sign of his passing.

Scott ran over to Yugi and glared after the white-haired boy, "You okay, Yugi? Pietro didn't try anything did he?"

"Aside from telling me that there are more mutants than I knew of and making fun of me in class?" Yugi shook his head and started back on his walk to the convertible, "No. He didn't try anything."

*****000*****

Scott explained about the Magneto, the Acolytes and the Brotherhood on the ride back to the mansion. He said everything so matter-of-factly that Yugi couldn't find it within himself to feel angry at not being told. It wasn't that they had intentionally left him uninformed. It was that to them, the Brotherhood was an everyday occurrence and something that the entire school knew about. It was just assumed that Yugi would know after a few days at school. After all, the Brotherhood was a common topic of conversation amongst their classmates.

_/Just one more thing I'll have to talk to Yami about before we go to bed,/_ Yugi thought to himself, sighing and leaning back in leather seat of Scott's convertible. Ignoring the others and not caring if he was being rude, Yugi pulled out the bag of puzzles he had brought to school in case he got really bored. Glancing through it he decided on the Rubik cube. It was a simple puzzle that he could lose himself in for the rest of the ride.

Needless to say, the cube was solved by the time Scott pulled into the school grounds.

*****000*****

Kaiba's cell phone started to ring just as he was heading to his private helicopter. Glancing at the screen, he saw an unfamiliar number. This was confusing since the only people with access to this particular line were people he knew. Running the possibilities through his head he decided that it was probably someone he knew calling from an unfamiliar number. Possibly it was that Warren guy. He had given the kid this number just a few days ago and the area code was not from Japan.

Annoyed that he would choose now to call, when he was on his way to see Yugi, Seto answered, "Kaiba."

"Seto!? Oh, God! Thank God you answered! No one else has answered. My dad's line is busy and my house's line is busy and everyone else's line is busy! You have to help me! I can't get through to anyone else! Please! Say you'll help me! Please! I don't know how long I have before… before _he_ comes back…"

Kaiba pulled the phone from his ear and gave it a disbelieving look, then brought it slowly back to his ear, "Who are you and how do you know me?"

"It's Warren. You gave me your number, remember? I had it on me when he grabbed me. I don't think he searched me after he knocked me out. When I woke up I still had all my things on me. I'm not sure how long I was out, but I still have my phone and wallet and everything I had on me… You have to help. Please. I think he's going to try and ransom me or something. That's why rich kids get kidnapped, right? For money, right?" Warren's voice grew more shrill and panicked and it almost sounded like the boy was crying. He was definitely having trouble breathing.

Kaiba wasn't really the greatest at giving comfort, but he did his best as he placed his laptop on the ground and turned it on., "Just stay calm, I'm going to try and trace your number. Take a look at where you are. What kind of room you're in, if there's any furniture. I'm going to assume you aren't tied up since you were able to call me. Tell me what the place looks like."

Warren gulped a couple times before answering, "It's a small room, maybe 15 x 15. Not much bigger, if that. There're two beds, the one I'm on and the one across from me. I'm actually tied to the bed by a chain around my ankle. There's no windows and the walls are concrete. The door… It's metal. No handle on this side. It looks like it was taken off. And there's someone else in the other bed…"

Kaiba stopped his typing, "Someone else? Do you know them?"

"No. I've never seen her before. But she's been asleep since I woke up. There's this big bruise on the right side of her face. My phone has a camera. Hold on I'll send you a picture of her… Can you receive pictures?"

"Yes."

"Hold on…"

A few tense moments ticked away slowly before Kaiba's phone beeped at him, telling him that a picture had been sent. Opening it up, the young billionaire went rigid. There was no mistaking the face in picture. The bruise only added to the man's rising anger.

Centered in the middle of his screen, eyes closed peacefully under purpled flesh, was the first girl Kaiba had ever fallen for. Whoever had kidnapped Anzu was going to pay.

*****000*****

Yugi and Yami were on their way to their now daily Danger Room session, when Ororo's voice came over the intercom, "Yugi? Could you come to the front entrance? There is a young gentleman here to see you. He says it has to do with Duel Monsters."

Yami gave his light a curious look and Yugi shrugged in response, he wasn't expecting anyone. The two turned around and headed back upstairs to greet their guest.

In the hall leading to the front door, Scott stood with arms crossed and a glare directed at whoever was on the other side. Yugi walked passed the taller boy and went to greet whoever was there to see him. Yami had already retreated into the puzzle, looking out from his soul room, seeing the world through Yugi's eyes.

In the entrance hall stood, no, squatted the guy who wanted to see Yugi. The sickly looking boy hopped over to the exchange student and held out his hand, "Hey Yugi! Remember me? Toad? We have Gym together. The guys usually make fun of me 'cause I like Duel Monsters. But I thought maybe you and I could have a game or two. Not many people will hang around with me."

Yugi took the offered hand, "As long as you refrain from name-calling, then I think a duel or two wouldn't be so bad. Your name isn't really Toad is it?"

Toad laughed and shook his head, "Nah, that's just my nick-name. It's a bit of a play on my real name. Todd. Todd Tolenski."

"It's nice to meet you Todd. Are you wanting to duel now? Or can it wait?"

"I was kind of hoping to duel now. And outside if that's okay?" Toad looked meaningfully at Scott, who was still glaring at the boy. "I'm not really welcome here and I'm hopping on a fine line as it is."

Yugi glanced back at Scott and raised his voice just enough to be heard, "Todd and I are going outside for a quick game of Duel Monsters, okay? I'll join Yami in the Danger Room when I'm done."

_//What?//_ Yami responded, _//I don't get to stay?//_

_/One of us should be there and Todd knows me. I doubt I'll need your help to beat him, either. And on top of that, it's just a friendly game, okay?/_

Yami materialized next to his lighter-half, startling Yugi's guest, "Fine. But make it quick, all right? We both need to practice. You more than me." The darker one stuck his hands in his pockets and turned back the way Yugi had come, _//And be careful. This guy does not give me a good feeling.//_

"I will," Yugi replied to both of Yami's comments and headed in the opposite direction, to the front doors.

When both Todd and Yugi were outside, they sat down on the steps and pulled out their decks. Todd then asked about Yami.

Yugi blinked at the boy, surprised at the question. A second or two later it occurred to him that Todd wasn't one of the few who knew about Yami. "Oh… Ah, Yami is… my brother. We are twins. I was the only one selected for the exchange program, however, so Yami is staying here while I go to Bayville High."

Todd nodded his head in understanding, "I see. So he's a mutant, too? It's kind of obvious with him appearing out of nowhere like that. I play two cards face down and set one monster in defense mode

Yugi glanced at the cards, "Yes. He is also a mutant. I play one card face down. I then play Soul Exchange to sacrifice your monster to bring out my Summoned Skull in attack mode. Since it is past the first turn, I can now attack as well. And since you have no monsters on the field, Summoned Skull can attack your life points for 2500. Are we playing with First Edition rules or the reworked World Tournament rules?"

Todd bit his lip and filled a trap, "Well, since I'll probably need the life points, let's go with the reworked rules… is it my turn yet?"

"Almost. Let's see… You are now at 5500 life points and I am still at 8000. I will place a second card face down on the field and end my turn. You may go."

*****000*****

Yami hurried back down to the Danger Room. He really didn't like the idea of going it alone for however long it took Yugi to beat the strange boy. The obstacles thrown at the twins during past sessions were hard enough to overcome with two people. Yami was unsure he would be able to get through them alone.

When the huge metal door to the room opened, the spirit came to a startled halt. Standing just inside the door, were three of the X-men: Rogue, Storm, and Nightcrawler.

The elder of the three smiled at Yami's surprise, "I thought that perhaps today, the two families could have a chance at working together. It's a little known fact, but Rogue and Nightcrawler share the same mother. Legally, at least. Your brother will not take long, I hope? I do not wish to get started without him."

Yami smirked at the three and entered the room, "He'll be down soon. Yugi should be winning the Duel right about now."

"Duel?" Kurt piped up, "What Duel?"

"The one Yugi's having with Todd."

*****000*****

The sickly looking boy played Dark Hole, hoping to wipe the field of monsters and turn the game to his favor, "So how long you and… Yami, was it? How long ya here for?"

Yugi flipped his White Hole and saved his Summoned Skull from being wiped off the field, "About a month and a half more. We will be finishing the semester out here in Bayville before going back home."

"Really? That means you and I can play again sometime, right? I mean, if the X-babies let you hang out with me more often and all. Your turn."

Yugi gave Todd a curious look, "What do you mean by 'let me' hang out with you. The X-Men would not stop me from seeing a friend. I attack with Summoned Skull and do another 2500 to your life points. Please… Explain what you mean."

Todd shrugged, "They probably wouldn't try to stop you straight you, but this isn't the first time me or one of the guys have had friends within the X-men and ended up worse off for it. You should hear what happened with Kitty and Lance. Now that's a screwed up relationship. And Rogue! Geez! Did you know she was in my group before she joined the X-Men?" The lackey shook his head and placed a card on the field, "I play one monster face down, your turn."

Yugi shook his head, "No. I did not know the Rogue was your friend."

"I didn't say she was my friend. Naw, we don't get along. She pretty much despises the Brotherhood. That's all Mystiques' fault, though. She's the one who didn't tell Rogue that she was her daughter. So I can't blame that on the scouts. But, thing is, she was more rude and hateful to us after she joined Xavier and his kids."

"Oh… I… see… I play Harpy's Feather Duster and use a second Soul Exchange on your face down monster. I also sacrifice my Summoned Skull to bring out the Dark Magician. Dark Magician will then attack and take out the last of your life points." Yugi picked up his cards and thanked Todd for the Duel, "I look forward to playing against you again."

*****000*****

The short boy ran back to the Danger Room, his cards safely back in their belt pouch. The door opened and Ororo greeted him, just as she had Yami. She then went on to explain the mission of the day.

"Today, the four of you will be working as a team. Your goal is to get me from this side of the room to the other. You will have to do all the fighting to protect me. I will not do any. I will not help you achieve your goal, but I also will not hinder you. Now, Yugi and Yami are used to trusting each other and Rogue and Nightcrawler are used to trusting each other. But neither pair have worked in tandem together. As Rogue and Kurt are the more experienced pair, I expect Yugi and Yami to follow their lead. You will need to work as a team, please try to do so. And before you ask, the fuzzy one is _not_ allowed to just teleport me there. This simulation is to test your ability when you do not know what the exit looks like." Ororo pressed a button hidden on her wristband, "This session starts now."

The room went dark for a moment and then lightened slightly as red lights turned on and the hologram program began putting up its randomly generated maze. Storm started forward at a sedate pace while Rogue and Kurt flanked her cautiously.

Yugi became rather nervous at the new surroundings, and trotted closely behind Rogue, his mind distracted by Todd's comments. Yami was outwardly calm as he trailed his light.

A fog started to roll in and the southern girl took leadership, "Alright folks, it's going ta be hard ta see from here on out. Kurt, can ya'll take the point and scout ahead? If you get caught in a trap, just _bamf _back ta me, kay?"

"Right," the blue furry one replied and bounded ahead and out of sight.

Rogue addressed the twins next, "Alright, we have a scout. Yugi, your power is making shields to deflect things, right? I know ya'll have trouble with them, so I want you ta start concentrating on making one now. That way, if we need it, we'll have a better chance of getting it. Yami, your power is invisibility, or a form there of, right? I want you ta follow us all invisible like, kay? That way, if we get caught in something, we'll have someone on the outside who has a chance of getting us out."

Yugi immediately started mumbling the shield spell under his breath, trying to concentrate on the flow of energy around him and getting it to flow just _so._ Yami also did as he was told and went to spirit form, disappearing from the material world around him.

Ororo walked forward.

*****000*****

The first few minutes of the session were filled with tense anticipation. Everyone expected something to pop out at them. Yugi had visions of a buzz saw blade going for his neck running through his mind. His imagination and the conversation with Todd did not help his concentration.

_//Yugi?// _The darker of the pair turned his attention to his light, _//Are you all right? You seem overly nervous. Is it the strangeness of the mission?//_

Yugi shook his head, _/No… I just had a not-so-assuring conversation with Todd. It has me questioning weather or not to trust the others as much as I have./_

_//Really? What did he say?//_

_/I'll tell you later. We really need to concen…/_ Yugi cut off his own thought as a robotic arm appeared out of the darkness surrounding the small group. The metal limb grabbed for Ororo, who was pushed out of the way by Rogue, "Heads up, ya'll! Here it comes!"

Lasers shot at them from unseen perches and Kurt _bamfed_ back to the party, going immediately for Storm. The furry elf knew that if anything really bad happened it was his job to keep her out of trouble. More robotic arms came at the group and medium sized rubber balls were launched from both sides.

Yugi, surprised by the assault, was actually able to get a shield up. It stopped the balls on the left from hitting Rogue and Ororo, but his shield didn't cover the right side. They pummeled the small boy and the assault drove him into the line of a swinging robotic arm. The arm, in turn, hit him hard enough to send him falling to the ground. His head impacting with the floor was enough to knock him out.

Yami immediately entered the puzzle to do what he could. It was his reaction to take control and protect Yugi during times like these. Unfortunately it was Rogue's reaction to touch a fallen comrade and absorb their power for use until said person woke back up. And Yugi's shields were very useful.

The combination of the two actions did not result in a good ending.

*****000*****

Warren Worthington the Third, Billionaire and son of a Billionaire, hung up his phone and put it in his pocket. He then turned to Mesmero; face decidedly less lively than his voice had just been, "Kaiba traced the call. He'll be here in less than a day."

The tattooed man picked up his coat, "Good." He smiled at the fourth occupant of the room, "This girl is worth just as much as you told me she was."

The boy did not respond. He, too, was under Mesmero's control, just as Warren was.

The mutant pulled his robes tighter around himself, "Warren, be a good boy and ready your father's jet. It's time I returned to the Master. I think a trip to Egypt would be good right about now." He ran a hand through Anzu's hair and grinned at the other boy, "This girl will make an excellent sacrifice. Carry her."

The boy did as he was told, eyes lifeless, as if his soul had been sealed away.

"Yes, I think a trip to Egypt would be very good right now. And who knows? Maybe being in some dark, dank tomb will awaken your old memories…"

Mesmero pulled a hat down over his brow, leading the way out of the warehouse. Warren followed, already on the phone about the jet. Taking up the rear, Anzu in his arms, walked Ryou Bakura.

*****000*****

End Chapter


	12. Chapter 11

**The Fourth "God"**

A Yu-Gi-Oh!/X-Men: Evolution crossover fic.

Written by Rogue Moon

_"Digital Pets have the ability to mate, too! …You can share your pets' personality data with each other!..."_

_"Awright, Yugi! Let's you and me mate right away!"_

_"Okay!"_

Yugi and Jonouchi, Duel 21: Digital Pet Duel

*****000*****

Chapter Eleven

The first thing to hit him was the noise: the sheer volume of other voices drowning out his very essence. Whispers and screams raining down on him with no end. Talk of rape mixing with worries over grocery lists and whether now was a good time to invest in a certain stock swirled around him, through him, in a whirlwind of sound that made his mind throb with pain. It hurt so much that he added his own voice to it, begging for a release from it all. A pleading scream that ripped from his throat. A supplication spoken in the voice of one used to being obeyed. A whimper from a dog kicked too many times. All this and more was held within two small words:

_SHUT UP!_

Everything stopped; he found Heaven in the silence. Bliss he had never known was possible in being alone. When trapped in the puzzle, the lack of everything had been torture. Now it was a welcome friend.

Moments passed, perhaps an eternity, before he opened his eyes.

He was in the wrong room. Clothes were everywhere: long-sleeved shirts and jeans lay in piles. He sat in one. All dark colors that absorbed the light. And so many gloves. The only true color in the room was the gloves. Bright reds and neon greens mingled with the shirts and pants; elbow length and driver's style.

There was no door to leave by and the walls were of his own making. He was half tempted to get rid of them again, but the threat of the voices made him weary of such action. The voices had hurt and he knew somehow, that he would need all his strength to leave this place.

*****000*****

Ororo stopped the simulation as soon as Rogue screamed. Kurt was barely able to catch the girls' body as she slumped to the floor next to a fallen Yugi.

Storm picked herself up and ran over to the three, "What happened?"

Kurt shook his head, "I do not know. One minute she's fine and the next, she's screaming. Did you see what happened to Yugi?"

"No, I was busy being pummeled with rubber balls. Yami, do you know what happened?" Ororo asked as she glanced around, looking for the twin. "Yami? Now is not the time to stay hidden. Come out this instant."

Kurt looked around the room, wondering if the boy had been knocked out as well. But neither of the two could see him. The fuzzy one shifted his sister to get a better grip, "Yami? Your brother is hurt… Yami?"

Ororo glanced down at her charge and noticed something she hadn't before. Rogue was missing a glove.

She focused her mind, ::_Charles? I think something very bad has happened.::_

*****000*****

Katherine Pryde sat at her desk, watched closely by the students around her. Perky, peppy Kitty sat rigid, unmoving, concentrating very hard on the challenge given to her. She would not let the pencil fall. She would keep it balanced perfectly on the bridge of her nose until the teacher returned to end lunch.

Why had she accepted the challenge? Because there was nothing better to do. Jonouchi had returned to school the day before and for a while had been crowing about getting to see the groups' mutual friend: Yugi Motou. Hiroto, Anzu and Ryou paid close attention the first couple times Jou told them about the visit. By the third time, the news had gotten old.

But that was yesterday. Today, both Ruy and Anzu had called in sick. Anzu had called Kitty that morning to apologize for not walking to school with her. Ruy had called Hiroto and told him not to worry about picking him up for a few days because he had come down with a fever.

Honda had been more worried about Bakura's evil twin and Ruy reminded his friend that his body was the spirit's body as well. They would both be better off if Ruy got over his cold quickly.

So, with the two rational members of the group gone for the day, the classroom was now being led by the clowns. Jonouchi and Hiroto were all right by themselves, but together they could come up with some very weird ideas. Kitty was a mutant. She was used to weird. These things were outrageous even to her.

But since she had nothing better to do, she agreed to balance a pencil on the bridge her nose for the entire lunch period. If she succeeded, Katsuya, Honda and Bakura would be her slaves for a week. If she failed, she had to do the three boys' homework for a week. Jou had thrown Ryou into the mix because he knew the boy would go along with it. Bakura was spineless like that.

Kitty was not about to fail.

The rules stated that she had to keep it there for the entire lunch hour and no one was allowed to interfere. If someone bumped her, the deal was void. It had been forty-five minutes already. Kitty was starting to sweat. She only had five minutes left to go.

The entire class was now sitting around her, watching her. Most of them glanced at the clock every minute or two. They had stopped talking to each other almost ten minutes ago. Ten minutes was a very long time.

She couldn't move for another four minutes.

Three minutes…

Two.

One.

Fifty seconds.

"Hey Jou, I think she's going to make it."

Forty.

"She could still lose it, Honda. So shut up, will ya?"

Thirty

"Jou…"

Twenty.

"Shut up!"

Ten

"I don't want to be a slave."

Five.

"Shut-"

Three.

"-up."

One.

"I WIN!" Kitty jumped from her seat in victory, the other students clapping and cheering. Honda was glaring at Jou, who had his head in his hands.

The dark haired boy shoved his friend, "Thanks a lot!"

Katsuya bristled and got to his feet, "What's that supposed ta mean?"

"Just what it sounds like, idiot! Now we have to do whatever she says! For a week!"

"That part was your idea!"

"So? You're the one who came up with the entire thing to begin with!"

"Ya didn't have ta go through wit it! Ya gonna do something about it?"

Hiroto smirked and crossed his arms, "I don't have to. Bakura will take care of you when he finds out you included him in this thing."

That stopped Jou. He froze in mid-comeback as he realized his friend was right. If Bakura got upset over it, there was a high chance that his evil half might get even more upset and that would just be bad. The evil Bakura wasn't nice to begin with.

Kitty ignored their plight and pulled her hairbrush out of her bag, "First thing you have to do is brush my hair. And gently, too. I prefer long, even strokes done with just enough pressure to touch the scalp, but not enough to cause pain." She handed the brush to Katsuya, "You will start and after a little while, I'll have you switch with Honda. I think that's fair, don't you?"

*****000*****

"You made them shut up," she accused, a little sad that she had chosen to break the silence. "Only the Professor has ever made them shut up before. But I didn't touch him. No one I touch can stop their own voice. They don't even notice the others. Or me, for that matter. But you noticed them."

He turned around, startled at the other presence. It took some searching, but he was able to locate the owner of the voice. She was huddled up next to a pile of clothes not that far from him. What he had mistaken for a large concentration of discarded gloves, was actually her clothing. Hand coverings of various sizes were sewn together to hide her body from view.

Her head had been down before, so he had missed the distinctive white streak that was her bangs. But now her green eyes held him and there was no mistaking that face.

"Rogue?"

"How'd you get here anyway? And what's with that get-up?" her voice was still accusing, but curious.

He titled his head in thought, "I… do not know. Yugi passed out and I went to help him. Then somehow I was here. And the voices…" He cringed at the thought of those voices.

"So you're Yami? Not Yugi? I touched him. But I can't hear him in here." She looked at him, more curious than cautious now. "You get used ta the voices, after a while," She replied, eyes never leaving him. "I didn't touch you. I touched Yugi to try and use his shields until he woke up. But I didn't touch you." She sat up a little more, loosening the knot she had made herself into. "So how did ya'll get here?"

"Where is here?"

"Mah mind."

He went rigid with sudden understanding. No wonder the voices had invaded him so thoroughly. "I… I'm sorry. I didn't come intentionally…"

Rogue gave him a mirthless smile, "Most don't… But that doesn't explain why you're here. I touch someone and a part of them comes here. Their most recent memories, their personalities, their powers… They all come here when I touch them. I didn't touch you. I know 'cause I'm not reliving your memories. I'm not hearing your thoughts. I know the Professor said you were something of a psychic, but from my understanding, that only extends to talking with your brother." The girl leaned back and looked at the wall behind her, noting the hieroglyphics marking its surface, "I think maybe you are a psychic. Only really strong ones can make walls in other peoples minds. I know 'cause that's what Xavier always says and my memories from Jean tell me its true."

Yami came near her, but stopped when she started to back away, hitting his wall. The symbols etched on it started to glow a low gold color; not really adding light to the room, just letting themselves be known.

He sat down instead of approaching further, "I have some psychic abilities, yes. But I did not bring myself to this place. You brought me here."

"How?"

"When you touched Yugi." The spirit looked away from her, not wanting to meet her eyes. He didn't want to elaborate, but if she pried he was honor bound to tell her. It was her mind, after all.

"Oh… Do you know what 'heba.w-kekui' mean?"

"Shadow Games," Yami replied without thinking. A heartbeat later it dawned on him that she had spoken Egyptian. "Why do you ask?"

She shrugged and made herself more comfortable against the wall, "It's something that just started floating about in here. There are more joining it that sound really similar. But I don't know the language. Can't you hear them?"

He shook his head, "No, I cannot. Will you tell me what they say? Maybe I can translate them for you."

"Sounds good ta me, " Rogue stretched her legs, "The next loudest one is 'baui-fi'"

"His double soul."

" 'Shadow Games' and 'Double Soul'… Wonder what that means? Next is…"

"Who is saying these things? Sorry to interrupt, but whose voice is saying this?"

Rogue concentrated for a moment, "A lot of people. It's like I'm hearing a lot of people chanting and these are the only things I can understand… and there are these pictures starting to come, too. A bunch of guys dressed in robes you'd see watching _The Mummy_ or some _History Channel_ documentary on Egypt."

"What's the next thing they say?"

"It's 'auset f em khennu kekiu… au-f netri emma aqeru'"

"'His seat is within the darkness. He is divine among the perfect ones'… A prayer perhaps?"

"Is it Egyptian? Like the pictures suggest?"

"Yes. But I don't understand why this would be chanted by a group. It sounds more like a poem, a song, than a morning prayer…"

"How do you know so much about it?"

It was Yami's turn to shrug, "Yugi and I study ancient histories at school. We're going to be archaeologists like Grandpa. He once worked in Egypt, uncovering the secrets of the pyramid. We've learned a lot from him…" He didn't lie, all of that was true. He had a feeling she would know if he lied. He simply refrained from telling Rogue the exact reason.

"I guess that explains your get up."

"What do you mean?"

Rogue snorted and pointed at Yami, "The clothes you're wearing. They're the same as the kind the people wore back then."

Yami looked down at himself for the first time and realized Rogue was right. He was wearing Egyptian finery. Confused he looked back at the X-Man, "Why am I wearing this?"

"Beats me. Most people appear wearing the clothes that are the most familiar to them. I don't think I've ever seen you wear that, though."

"I cannot remember ever wearing this," he replied, sadness permeating his voice. He knew from others that he had once been a Pharaoh. But he could not find the memories within himself to confirm or deny the fact. All his memories were locked away. Not wanting to think about it, he changed the subject back to the voices Rogue had heard, "Is there any more to that? The voices?"

"Quite a bit before it starts repeating. Want to hear it?"

"Please. This is very interesting."

Rogue shifted against the wall and crossed her arms, "All right. The last part is longer. A lot longer. 'sethes-thu aha… uab-k… uab ka-k uab ba-k uab sekhem-k… i-nek mut-k i-nek Nut senem urt s-uab-s thu, senem-s thu khu as ku-k… ha uab-t uab ka-k uab sekhem-k am khu uab ba-k am neteru… set uta set khui maki er saa heh… aha aha-nef her-a… Atemu Suten-nu-heba'" Rouge took a deep breath, "I hope you can remember all that, it's quite a mouthful. Know what they're saying?"

Yami nodded his head, "I can remember it. That last bit translates to: Rise up thou, stand up. Pure art thou, pure is thy double, pure is thy soul, pure is thy power. Cometh to thee thy mother, Nut, the fashioner great, she purifieth thee, she fashioneth thee, protecting when thou movest. Pure art thou, pure is thy double, pure is thy power among the spirits, pure is thy soul among the gods. They are safe, they are protected, guarded until eternity. He hath fought for it. Atemu, King of Games…"

The visions struck him as the last of the words rolled from his mouth. Memories long forgotten, locked away in the labyrinth of the puzzle flooded his mind. The words he had spoken breaking the last barriers to them. Images of servants scurrying off to do his bidding, pictures of stone tablets carved in the images of monsters and spells uttered without effort submerged him, breaking his focus. The onslaught caused Yami to scream once more. The walls created to stop the ocean of voices collapsed in that instant, letting the waves of memories cascade upon the two souls.

Rogue curled herself up again, hating the return of the noise that Yami could no longer hear. His own past was roaring in his ears and muting the sound of Rogue's mind, washing away all that was her to make room for all that he had been.

The Pharaoh had remembered his name.

*****000*****

For the rest of the day, Katherine enjoyed having her two slaves pamper her. After they brushed her hair to her satisfaction, she had one give her a shoulder rub while the other fanned her with a makeshift fan. This lasted until the main class broke up for specialization courses. Right before she left for Programming, she told her two slaves to have the limo ready to take them all over to Ryou's place so the boys could explain the situation personally. When the final bell rang, Katsuya was waiting outside, limo ready to ferry the American anywhere she wanted. Apparently she wouldn't have to worry about the boys going back on their word.

Kitty only planned on making them keep their word until the end of the next day. She wasn't cruel enough to make them serve her for an entire week, just a couple days. But she wasn't planning on making Ryou endure the torture of it, either. Jou and Honda were the ones to make the bet, so they would be the ones to suffer. She just wanted them to tell Ryou about it and watch them get chewed out by the sick boy. It was sure to be a great show.

Katsuya opened the door for her so she could climb in. Hiroto was already inside. The second boy climbed in after her and told his driver to head for Ryou's.

"So how long are you gonna make us do this?" Jou asked, grabbing a soda from the cooler hidden in the armrest.

Kitty titled her head to one side, acting like she was thinking really hard, "Oh… I don't know… Maybe the week we agreed on? I know you'd make me keep my word about doing homework for that long if I had lost…" She cut herself off with a laugh at the stricken look on Jou's face. Hiroto just shook his head and muttered something that sounded like: 'I told you so.'

It didn't take long for them to get to Ryou's. The walk from the school was relatively short and the drive even shorter. The three piled out and Jou told the driver to drive around the block for about a half hour and then come back to pick them up. Honda approached the door first and gave it a quick knock, then waited. A few seconds later he gave another double knock right before he pulled out his keys and went to unlock the door.

"Ryou gave me an extra key just for days like today. I do the knock first so he'll know who it is if he's not able to come to the door right away. With him being sick, I expect he'll be in bed," Hiroto explained as they walked in. Kitty had never been inside Ryou's house before and was amazed at how clean it was. Not at all like it had been lived in. The floor was polished hardwood leading to walls painted a creamy off-white. What she could see of the living room made her think of the houses that had been turned into museums. Everything was shined and dusted and in it's place.

At least the first couple rooms looked that way. The back hall was another matter all together. Pieces of porcelain from former vases littered the floor near one wall. Paintings hung precariously on hooks, wanting to fall at any moment. The rug was bunched near one end, as if someone had slid on it.

Honda was the first to react, calling his friends' name and running up the stairs. A clear path of destruction led the way to a room at the far end of the walkway. Said room looked as though it had been gone through by a pack of looters. The bed was off its frame: the mattress near the door and the box spring leaning against a drawer-less dresser. Clothes were thrown everywhere but where they belonged. Books once housed on oak shelves, now lounged on the floor around the bed frame. A curio cabinet on the right wall stood where it was supposed to, but it's doors now hung half destroyed; glass shards littered the floor at its base. The three ignored the dangers, searching in vain for their friend, hoping that he was still there somewhere.

When it was obvious, painfully so, that Ryou wasn't in the room, they split up to search the house. Honda took the remaining two rooms upstairs while Kitty took the main floor and Jou took the basement. Not long after, Kitty's panicked cries filtered through the house and brought the two boys running to the downstairs bathroom.

The door had been locked when Kitty first tried to open it. After jiggling the handle and pushing on the door had gotten her nowhere, she just walked through the door. It didn't particularly matter if whoever was on the other side saw her. When she cleared the barricade that held the door shut she called for Hiroto and Jonouchi.

Huddled in the tub, eyes swollen from tears previously shed, sat a white-haired boy who looked like Bakura. His hair was ragged and un-brushed and there was a wild look to his eyes.

Honda knew at once that it wasn't his friend: Ryou would have called out to him earlier, "Watch out. That's not Bakura…"

Kitty touched his arm, trying to get his attention, "Are… Are you okay?"

The tomb-robber's eyes slowly focused on the girl.

Kitty tried again, "Khaibit, right? Are you okay? Can you tell us what happened?"

The spirits eyes lowered and focused on his right hand, which was clenched around something. His mouth worked and an inaudible whisper came out.

"What? What did you say?" Kitty leaned in closer, "I couldn't hear you. Could you repeat it?"

Khaibit looked at her again, despair radiating from him, "You were right. He does hate me."

*****000*****

_The priest rose from his kneeling position and approached his Pharaoh, fully intent on giving the child a good ear chewing. Atemu stopped him in his tracks by taking off his crown and holding it out to the man._

_"If you think you can make better decisions when it comes to situations such as these, Seto… Then by all means, take my crown. Rule. I would rather lead the simple life."_

*****000*****

One phone call and a Limo ride later found Khaibit huddled up on a couch in Malik's apartment with the blond boy acting very out of character by trying to comfort his friend. The Egyptian had the spirit pulled against him in a hug as he ran his hand through the distinctive white hair, "He doesn't hate you, Khaibit. He can't hate you."

The voice that answered was almost as dead as the spirit, "The why can't I get in? How else could he block me so? And why else would he attack me like that?"

"I don't know, but I know he doesn't hate you," Malik sighed. The blond turned his attention back to Kitty, Hiroto and Jou. "How long has he been like this?"

Kitty looked at her feet, "Since we found him. He hasn't told us anymore than what you just heard."

Hiroto twiddled his thumbs, obviously nervous. In all the time he had known of the spirit, he had never seen the tomb raider act like this and it was scaring him. Khaibit had always been cocky and sadistic. Right now he just looked pathetic. Clearing his throat, Honda voiced a question, "You said Bakura attacked you? When was that?"

The spirit winced and hid his head against Malik. Hearing the others speak the name of his host hurt. Everything hurt. He had always been secure in the knowledge that no matter what he did, Ryou would not hate him. Ryou could not hate. He had been secure in the knowledge that Ryou would always give him another chance no matter how many he blew. Ryou would always forgive him and let him back in.

And then Bakura turned on him: threw the lamp, upturned the bed and finally pushed him down the stairs. And when the spirit had barricaded himself in the bathroom, actually afraid for the first time in what seemed an eternity, Bakura left.

Khaibit used all his willpower to keep the tears from coming again, "Yesterday. Just after he got home from school."

*****000*****

_The Prince was playing a challenging game of stones against one of the guards, and beating the older man quite soundly, when the messenger barreled into the room and came to a sudden halt ten paces from his superior._

_Atemu didn't look at the man until he finished the set, proud that it had only taken twenty minutes to beat the guard this time. When he was done thanking the man for a game well played, he turned his attention to the messenger, "What news do you bring that is so urgent as to interrupt my game hour?"_

_The messenger, still somewhat out of breath, looked up at the fourteen-year-old boy whose very whim could decide his life or death. Tears filled his eyes as he lowered his head in grief, "My Pharaoh. Your father has fallen on the battlefield. His elite guards have fallen as well. You now rule the kingdom of the Nile. Forgive me for bringing such news. I beg of you, My Pharaoh."_

*****000*****

Honda looked at Khaibit as if he were crazy, "Yesterday? But I talked to him this morning. He said he had a flu or something. Why would he call and tell me that? Why wouldn't he tell me what had happened with you? He always tells me what happens with you."

The spirit regained some of his fire for a moment, glaring at Hiroto, "What are you talking about?"

"When we talk at school or when we're studying, he'll tell me about what happens between you two."

Khaibit's eyes grew wide with anger but then he lost the emotion, falling back into despair, "How could I not see it? He's been hiding things from me for so long… He would only hide if he hated me…"

Malik glared at the brunette and patted his friend on the shoulder some more, "He did not hide anything from you. You knew about this. Remember? You told me about how he was getting too friendly with the buzz cut idiot. You must have just forgotten about it or something…"

Honda was ready to start arguing with the blond when Kitty stood up, "Well, maybe he's just getting some time to himself. If none of you have any ideas about where he might have gone, then why don't we call Anzu and see if she might?"

No one objected to the suggestion so Kitty walked the few steps to the telephone and dialed the number as Hiroto called it out for her.

"Hello? Is Anzu there? …She's not? Really? Oh, well… No! No… I just forgot to ask her something, is all. About a project. I'll try back later… Oh? All right, I'll try there. Thank you, you too… Goodbye."

She set down the phone and then walked stiffly back to the couch, where she sat down with very precise motions.

A moment of silence passed and Jou finally filled the gap, "So? What's up?"

"Anzu's not home from school yet."

"But she didn't go to school today…"

"I know."

Honda and Jou went quiet and then Honda asked, "So maybe she skipped?"

Jou rolled his eyes, "Anzu? Skip? Are you nuts?"

"She walked to school with Ryou this morning," Kitty filled in.

More silence followed.

*****000*****

_The tomb robber stood before him, the mummified body of his father strung across the thief's back, "So tell me, oh great Pharaoh… Will you be like this stiff and get yourself killed at the hands of the living, unbound Shadow Monster? Will you live on forever, remembered as the second ruler to fall dead at his feet?"_

_The white haired freak sneered, "Should we ask your dear, departed daddy for help? I'm sure he'd love to give it… if he could find it in himself to be torn away from the pleasures of the afterlife. Or maybe not. I heard he was much the same in his living years. Always thinking of what could bring him the most pleasure and ignoring the rest of the world… Including his precious heir…"_

_Atemu growled in anger at the man who dared defile his father's grave, "You will pay for your words and your actions. Anubis will weigh your heart before the great Osiris and the tiny piece of it that you have will plummet through the plate and make a hole in the floor of the throne room. You will be punished with the most horrible rebirth possible. I hope it's as a cockroach so I step on you and feel your body crush beneath my foot."_

_The thief laughed and dropped the body, taking pleasure in the hate that poured from the Pharaoh's eyes as he watched his father's mummy be treated so poorly. What made it better was that the boy could do nothing to stop the tomb robber._

_"I don't think we've been properly introduced, oh great Pharaoh," he said, sarcasm think like venom in the mouth of a viper. "I know who you are, but you don't know my name." The thief bowed mockingly, "I am the longest shadow that stretches across the Nile, the only one that command the shadows of my heart." He straightened and looked down the chasm that separated himself from Atemu and then looked back at the Pharaoh, "I am Thief King Ba-khu-Ra"_

_He turned to go, but stopped for a moment as if thinking something over. Looking over his shoulder, the scar that graced his features from mouth to ear twisted with his grin, and then he kicked the body over the edge._

_His laughter echoed with Atemu's scream of horror._

*****000*****

They screamed in unison, their bodies convulsing on the beds.

Moments before, Ororo had carried Yugi to the infirmary while Kurt _bamfed_ Rogue there. They could find no trace of Yami and Xavier told them to meet him there. Dr. McCoy was fast to check their vitals, assuring the onlookers that the two were fine. Physically, at least. By then, the rest of the X-Men had arrived. Not content with what they were told, they wanted to see with their own eyes that the two were okay.

Then the patients screamed.

All hands covered adjoining ears, but this could not stop the sound. Neither voice was being used in this scream. It was purely on the mental level. And it hurt.

Upon realizing this, Xavier built a wall around the minds of each of his students. It muted the sound, but for some reason could not stop them from hearing it. Almost as if it reached to their very souls.

The puzzle around Yugi's neck started to glow and an eye appeared on his forehead. A matching eye appeared on Rogue. Unnatural wind swirled inside the room, carrying a strange chant and pushing the onlookers away from the two. The chant grew louder and the sound of the scream with it. Rogue's body convulsed again and a beam of golden light shot from the eye on her forehead.

The light twisted in the air and streamed into the puzzle, causing Yugi's body to convulse in turn. The chanting grew louder and even though Xavier's shields were holding, the scream came through as loud as before. It pierced the minds of the X-Men. It was a scream of pain. A scream of joy. A scream of despair. A scream of hope. It echoed through their bodies as the wind echoed through the room.

And when they thought they could take no more of this, when many started to wish for the pleasant oblivion of unconsciousness, the wind stopped.

The scream stopped.

The light disappeared.

The eyes vanished.

All was quiet.

*****000*****

End Chapter

The Egyptian spoken and translated in this chapter comes from _Egyptian Language: easy Lessons in Egyptian Hieroglyphics, by Sir E. A. Wallis Budge._

I take no credit for any of them. None are an original translation, merely bits and pieces I put together to make something somewhat coherent. Well, actually, Bakura's name is an exception to that.

With how I split it up for what it was in Egypt (Ba-khu-Ra), it is loosely (_very, very_ loosely) translated to: 'Soul and Spirit of Ra' (Ba = soul, Khu = spirits, Ra = Ra)


	13. Chapter 12

**The Fourth "God"**

A Yu-Gi-Oh!/X-Men: Evolution crossover fic.

Written by Rogue Moon

_"Don't think I didn't notice, Betts. But that double of me was an _exact_ duplicate from head to toe… So how'd you know I was the real me?"_

_"I'm the one who cuts your hair, Warren. And you may not have noticed a difference… But whoever's behind all this doesn't know a thing about hairstyling."_

_"_Hairstyling_? Hardly the most scientific approach…"_

_"Some things are beyond science."_

Warren Worthington III and Elizabeth Braddock, _"I Am Not Now, Nor Have I Ever Been…", _Uncanny X-Men, No. 375

*****000*****

Chapter Twelve

Malik growled low in his throat, earning a returned growl from the now asleep Khaibit who was latched to the blonde's waist. The Egyptian tried to get the spirit to let go for the eighth time, "Can someone help me here? Ishizu? Rashid? Some help?"

Malik's sister sat down in a chair near him, shaking her head and chuckling, "I'm sorry, my brother, but I am afraid that if I tried he might bite my arm off. Even asleep he is very possessive. If we tried to take what is his, then we would surely get sent to the Shadow Realm. Or have you not noticed the Eye clamped in his hand?"

"Of course I noticed it. It's the only thing keeping him in the physical world. _If_ what he says is true. Emphasis on the 'if'. Personally, I think he's overreacting to Ryou deciding to get a backbone."

Ishizu sighed and took a sip of her tea, "I suppose you'd know better than anyone else… But, we shall find out soon enough. Once Shadi arrives we can go visit the Pharaoh and see if he can make anything of this." The decision to go had been made almost two hours ago, just after Khaibit finally fell asleep.

Malik snorted and tried to get comfortable, not an easy task at the moment, "Baka Pharaoh and his idiot sheep... I'm just glad the cheerleaders left. Personally, I could care less if the head cheerleader has gone missing. Ryou is another matter." The group in question- consisting of Kitty, Honda, and Jonouchi- had left several hours earlier to comb the city in search of their friends. After they were gone, Malik had rung the front door and told the guard not to let them back up until the morning unless Ryou was with them. He was tired of their oh-so-positive attitudes. His decision had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that Khaibit had asked him to do it. Absolutely nothing.

"I'm glad you value your friend so much, my brother. It is good to see that something brings you happiness once more."

"Oh, please… Not this again. And stop looking at me like that!"

"Like what?"

"Like _that_! With the googly-eyes. Your looking at me with the same eyes you watch romance films, or read tearjerker novels with. Its… its… disgusting! So stop it!"

"Why must you deny your feelings all the time?" Ishizu knew Malik wanted to be more than friends with the ancient spirit and liked to tease him about it.

"Why must you always acknowledge yours?" Malik knew she knew and hated it.

"Why must the both of you always argue about things?" Shadi interrupted as he entered the living room, led by Rashid. "You said this was urgent, Ishizu. What needs to be done?" Shadi and Rashid were ignorant of Malik's feelings regarding Khaibit.

The woman waved at her brother and the white-haired boy burying his face in the blonde's chest, "We need to take him to the Pharaoh. He is a spirit without a home, so he claims. He said that Ryou cast him out and closed him off from his mind, and the Ring."

Shadi studied the spirit, "And yet he is still here, in this world… How is that?"

"He has the Eye."

"What!?"

"He has the Eye. I am not sure how he came to get it, but it is currently being held in his right hand."

Shadi stepped forward and Ishizu laid a hand on his arm, "Unless you wish to visit the Shadow Realm, my friend, I would not take the chance of trying to pry it from him. Even asleep, he is a force to be reckoned with. More so, now that he is lost to despair."

The magician lowered his head in reluctant agreement, "What time is it?"

"Almost three in the morning. It took some time to contact you."

"That is not my worry. The Pharaoh is in New York. His time it will be right around three in the afternoon. Maybe four. I hope he is at home and not in some public place. I have not been to 'Bayville' before. The only way to teleport to him is to focus on his energy, since I do not have a location near him memorized. I do not wish to start a riot by popping up in the middle of…" Shadi stopped mid thought as Khaibit started to moan loudly.

Ishizu raised an eyebrow, "Malik, I know you two are close, but could you please wait until later?"

The Egyptian boy glared at his sister, a blush darkening his cheeks, "I am not doing anything! And I wouldn't anyway! What you imply is completely… OW! Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow! Make him let go!"

Khaibit had tightened his grip and started to wail. At first it was a low, keening note; then it grew louder, higher. High enough to make much of the glass objects in the room start to shake. Khaibit let out a scream, throwing his head back in pain. Most of the glass broke right before the spirit stopped and fell back into Malik's chest.

Shadi started the spell that would take them to Yami.

*****000*****

Atemu groaned and cracked his eyes open. Light blinded him and he shut them tightly once more. His felt like the entire palace had fallen on him. His head hurt so much. He'd only felt like this once before, just after he had gotten himself so drunk on date wine that he wouldn't have known the difference between a camel and a courtesan, and wouldn't have cared either. But that's what Seto was around for. To steer him in the right direction, keep him from choosing the camel or courtesan and lead him to a proper bed.

But Atemu couldn't remember getting drunk last night. Or any other night for a very long time. And if he hadn't gotten drunk, why did his head hurt so? And where was Seto, anyway?

He cracked open his eyes again and tried to make sense of what he saw. He wasn't in his chambers, or any familiar place for that matter. Although he couldn't shake the feeling that all of this was familiar. The walls were made of polished metal and on his right was a blue furry creature pressing colored lights on one of the wall panels. The creature was muttering in a language he didn't know, yet could somehow understand…

_English…_

The name of the language floated across his mind in a voice that was his, but wasn't his. Atemu couldn't concentrate well enough to make sense of it and pushed himself into a sitting position, hoping that it would help to clear his head.

"Yugi? Are you alright?" A pretty redhead in strange clothes addressed him and reached out her hands to steady him. "Yugi? Do you know what happened? Do you know where Yami is?"

_Yami… I go by that name…Yugi…that is my name as well…_

Atemu stared at the girl, trying to place her face. He knew her, but didn't know her. He should have been frightened by the confusion these thoughts and the strangeness of his surroundings brought. Yet he wasn't.

The girl was pretty, with hair that should have been out of place. Blond hair was uncommon, but not unknown, in his kingdom, where most people had hair the color of night. He had been one of the few with hair that varied out of the normal spectrum. But that was because his grandfather, Rama-tut, had hair the color of the burning sun as it rose from its nightly fight with Set. Only members of the royal family had hair with any red in them.

But she wasn't a noble. Atemu knew they weren't related. He also knew that others outside of the royal family somehow had red in their hair, as well as white, brown, orange and the occasional green streak here and there for fashion. But how could that be?

His varied thoughts of what he knew to be true clashed with each other, neither winning and yet both sides victorious in their truth. Maybe he shouldn't have sat up. It only seemed to have prompted further confusion within him.

_I bet I did have too much date wine…_ Atemu thought to himself, ignoring the girl and lying down again, covering his eyes with one of his arms to block out any further light. Maybe if he went back to sleep and woke up again, this would all prove to be a very strange dream.

Peeking out at his arm, which should have been bare, he saw he was not imagining the cloth he felt. It was a blue so dark it bordered on black and was made of a cloth far more supple than the normal linens he was dressed in each morning.

_Cotton… the cloth is 100% pure Cotton… and the color is Navy… This is my school jacket. I wear it everywhere…_

The thought that was not his own, but was, echoed through him as fleeting visions of others dressed in the same clothes winked through his mind. The memories were not his but were a part of him at the same time. They were his memories. But they could not be. He was Pharaoh of all Egypt and besides, clothes like that would kill a person in the heat of the desert.

_I am not in the desert… I am in Bayville, New York… In the United States… America..._

More thoughts that were his but not his. He pulled his arm off his face to look for the red haired girl so he could question her. What he found was a blue furry face with pointed ears and even pointier teeth hovering just over his own.

With a most undignified yelp, the Pharaoh pushed himself away from the creature and ended up rolling off the bed. The bed stood a good three feet off the floor and Atemu hit the ground hard before pushing himself across it until he hit the supports of the second bed. His eyes never left the blue thing, which was suspending itself by its feet and tail from one of the ceiling lights.

"Sorry, Yugi! I didn't mean to startle you like that!" It spoke hurriedly as it dropped to the mattress.

_Kurt. His name is Kurt. He is my friend. He is a mutant. He can-_

"…teleport," Atemu finished the thought out loud as both his heartbeat and breathing slowed to a more acceptable level. "You… are… Kurt. We remember that you… are Kurt." He gulped down a breath and used the bed at his back to help himself stand, "How… do We know you?"

The red head appeared in his line of sight, "We? Who's 'we', Yugi? Is Yami around again? Can you ask him to show himself? We've been really worried."

Atemu gave her a look that clearly said he thought she was crazy, "We are We. Why do you speak of Us as if we are more than one? We are Yugi and We are Yami. Both names belong to Us."

Kurt and the redhead-

_Jean_

-exchanged worried glances. The telepath stepped around the side of the bed, approaching Atemu, "Are you alright? We know you're Yugi, but Yami is your brother… Did something happen to him? Something you haven't told us about?"

A third person came into view. A beautiful woman with hair that had gone white before it's time. She was dressed stranger than the other two. Yet it did not strike Atemu as strange to see her in the outfit. As if he had seen her in it enough times before to grow accustomed to it.

The woman-

_Ororo _

-looked curiously at him and lifted an ungloved hand to his forehead, "You don't have a fever. Perhaps you hit your head harder than we thought. Or maybe the magic flying about this room five minutes ago took its toll on you."

Atemu leaned his head away from her hand, separating them, "Magic? Is that why Our head feels like it was trampled by a ram?"

"Probably. I don't know if this is conscious or not, but you've been referring to yourself in the third person. You might want to stop. You'll make people think you're royalty or something," the weather witch joked, trying to get him to relax.

_But I _am _royalty… I am Pharaoh,_ He thought to himself, looking away from the woman. _Why do they not know this? Wouldn't I have told them? If I didn't…But why? Why wouldn't I tell them? _

_/ We couldn't tell them…/_

Atemu started, looking around wildly, "Who's there?"

"It's just us," Ororo answered as the boy turned around and saw the other X-men, who had been gathered behind him. But they hadn't spoken…

/ _We didn't know what to tell them. We didn't know ourselves for sure…/ _the voice came again and Atemu recognized it as his own. It was a part of him that had been taken away, sealed for an eternity until…

"Yugi?" Yami whispered to the air, his newest memories resurfacing as the tide of his old memories started to recede.

…until a puzzle had been solved by a fourteen-year-old boy in need of a friend.

"Right here, Yami," the small light whispered back as his arms encircled the spirit, who had just separated from the boy. "I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere."

Yugi had weathered the storm of memories from inside his soul room. The tide had slammed shut his door and held it tightly. All Yugi could do was yell and scream and push on it to try and open it. It took everything that he had to do so and when he finally emerged, he was more exhausted than when Pegasus had forced him to Duel unprepared in the Shadow Realm.

Yami was floating within his old memories, unanchored and without a star to guide him through the ocean that had invaded his mind. Yugi found him and held on tight, pleading with his other half to remember.

The dark one started to come around and Yugi separated their physical selves in hope of giving the other something concrete to focus on. His efforts were not in vein, for Yami could always focus on his personal light of hope.

The memories came to Yugi as Yami opened himself to his light. Atemu truly remembered himself then, when both halves were joined for but a moment. The Pharaoh reborn in the instant the light and dark within him shared the same thoughts, and killed the next when they were forced to separate once more.

*****000*****

Xavier pulled himself away from where Rogue lay, still asleep. He couldn't find a way into her mind. A maze of shields surrounded her consciousness and from what he saw, it would take decades to get through them. Whatever had happened with her and Yugi would have to be explained after she woke, because he doubted the twins would want to talk about it.

The professor honestly wanted them to open up on their own and let the X-Men into their lives. He didn't want to force the issue, but if more incidents like these took place…

::_I may just have to.::_

Jean met Xavier's eyes and sent a thought his way, **::** _Professor? Any ideas on what's up with Yugi?_ **::**

The bald man steepled his fingers and nodded, **::** _The twins share a telepathic bond. I don't know how deep it is, but it could be possible that their minds merge on occasion. I have never encountered a pair of twin telepaths before, but I have shared a deep mental bond with someone. If left unchecked, the bond can grow so much that one person might as well be the other._

_::They are 16, with 16 years for a bond to grow without being hedged in or shaped. I doubt this is the first time their minds have merged. Remember when they first arrived and how strangely they acted when they had to explain themselves? Their minds were probably partially merged then._**:: **Xavier linked his mind to Ororo, Henry and Wolverine, letting them join the conversation.

**:: **_In fact, now that I think about it… Yugi said that Yami could shield both their minds. That kind of control- to constantly have shields up for a second person- is beyond their experience level. But only if their minds were completely separate. If their minds have merged and are practically one and the same, then one would have no problem shielding the other._

_:: It could also explain about their scent. Logan? What to do you think?_**::**

Wolverine lit a cigar and leaned against a wall, **::** _I've never dealt with that before, but it sounds pretty logical to me. But what about the magic?_**::**

**::** _Well, it's not like we didn't have a warning on it,_**::** Storm added, backing away from the twins, who were oblivious to everything. **::** _Remember when Yami stole away into town? Yugi got on his case at breakfast while they were talking because Yami mentioned magic. I thought he meant slight of hand, but now… I think it's quite obvious they meant magic of another sort._**::**

Henry McCoy, resident doctor and walking rug, checked Rogue one last time and then leapt to the ceiling, **::** _Well, I don't know a lot about telepathic bonds or magic… But I can tell you that whatever energy was just flying about this room a moment ago didn't register on the room's sensors. Nothing but an increased heartbeat from either Rogue or Mr. Motou. Nothing else._**::**

Xavier nodded, **::** _It seems we shall have to confront the Motou's on this. They are proving to be far more dangerous than I'm sure they would want to be. If their minds are partially merged, then they are a danger to each other. And the outburst of magic they have shown is a danger to those around them. I would prefer to help them in whatever way we can, but that will be hard to do if they keep hiding the full extent of their power._**::**

**::** _What if they don't know the full extent of their power?_ **::** Ororo asked. No one answered.

*****000*****

The twins, previously engrossed with each other, became suddenly alert; both heads snapped up as they stared intently at the wall directly in front of them. Its mirrored surface began to distort, like a raindrop falling into a still pond. The surface darkened and silhouettes of light appeared, walking out of it.

Before the light made itself into figures recognizable as human, the X-Men had them surrounded. Wolverine's claws were out and at the throat of the being that ended up turning into a dark haired woman. Evan had the bones in his right arm ready to fire at a tall man with tattoos on the left half of his face. Scott and Bobby were ready to hold back a blond kid their age that was carrying a boy with wild white hair. Kurt and Jean took up positions on either side of the group, ready to take out the man with the turban. Rahnae and Jamie stood near Rogue, protecting her body.

It took less than a second for the newcomers to realize they were in danger. The blond dropped his friend, ignoring the groan of pain, and pulled a knife, placing it at the throat of the man who threatened Ishizu. Khaibit might be his friend and hopefully more, but Malik had his own priorities, "Back away now."

The short man had only one set of claws pointed at the girl. He brought his other arm up to the boy and popped his second set so that the tips just touched the tanned throat, "And if I don't?"

No fear in the boy's eyes and he didn't flinch when the claws came out. Instead, he smiled as if he was the devil himself with the secret of creation hidden behind his back, "Then I let the shadows take you."

"Don't you dare, Malik!" Yami barked at the intruder.

"Why not? They threaten me, I destroy them. That's how these things work."

Yami stood and drew his deck, casually shuffling it, "No, that is not how these things work. Put the blade away."

Malik's eyes left the short man's and met Yami's, fully aware of the threat in the cards, "Not until he drops the blades at Ishizu's throat."

Yugi came over to the group and placed a hand on the arm that threatened Ishizu, gently pushing it away, "Please Logan-san, put them away. These are friends."

A cough and a groan from the floor drew Yami's attention. He smiled cheerfully and pointed at Khaibit, "Except for him. You can hurt him all you want."

"Yami!" Yugi gasped in horror. "No!"

The spirit ignored his light and continued, "In fact, I insist you hurt him. The more the better. And if you can get out a few gut wrenching screams, I will be in your debt for eternity. I know! You can peg him to the floor with your claws and I'll jump up and down on his chest!"

The light ducked under Logan's arms and stepped between his twin and the new arrivals, "No! Not happening."

"Oh, come on! Indulge me just this once! He deserves it! It would be so much fun to…"

"No, he doesn't. And neither does Ryou."

"Yes he does. Ryou doesn't but he does! I know you remember what he did to father!"

"That was along time ago, in another life. That's not who he is now."

"Sure it is…"

"Yami," Yugi gave his dark a glare. The twin looked the other way and huffed, muttering to himself all the reasons why Khaibit deserved to be tortured. Yugi ignored him and turned back to the group, "Malik, please put the knife away. We're all friends here, there's no reason to get upset at each other."

Xavier rolled to the front of the group and addressed the transfer student, "Maybe if you explained what is going on, our minds would be better put at ease. I take it you know these… visitors?"

When Yugi nodded an affirmative, Logan lowered his arms and sheathed his claws, giving the other X-Men the silent signal they needed to relax. Malik snorted and sheathed his blade, then bent over and picked Khaibit back up. A task for which he needed Rashid's help. Yami, too, sheathed the blade he had pulled.

Xavier motored to the door, "Perhaps we should all retire to the lounge. We will have more room to sit and relax and… gain some insight."

*****000*****

The newcomers were shown to the lounge by Scott and Jean. Yugi and Yami joined them and started to talk with their visitors while the rest of the X-Men regrouped and Ororo gathered refreshments. She rather liked taking part in domestic affairs, it kept her down to earth when she was otherwise lost in the clouds. Both literally and figuratively.

Back in the lounge, before Xavier joined them and started his questioning, Yami took the time to inquire about why Ishizu and the others had come to see them. He did so in Japanese.

The woman pointed at Khaibit, who was still unconscious and once again welded to Malik's side, "He seems to believe that Ryou hates him and has cast him out."

Yami snorted, "About time."

Yugi elbowed his dark. He was the only one who could physically hurt the spirit without hurting himself as well. If anyone else tried they would only end up hurting Yugi. It was the same for Ryou and his dark half. A fact that was painfully obvious to Yugi as he rubbed his palm where Logan had cut Yami.

Ishizu ignored the comment and continued, "He was found at home, barricaded in the downstairs bathroom. He ran in there after Ryou attacked, pushing him down the stairs"

Yami gave the woman a look of disbelief, "Ryou? Attacked him? We're talking about the same Ryou, right?"

"So he claims, my Pharaoh. And yes, we are talking about the same one. We came to see if you could discern the truth in this matter."

"Well, I can try Isis. But I don't know if- "

Ishizu raised an eyebrow, "Isis, my Pharaoh?"

The twins looked at each other and Yugi sighed, "Sorry. That's what you were called back then. The memories just resurfaced and have been mixing with the here and now."

"You have remembered yourself?" Shadi asked, a hint of excitement in his otherwise bored voice.

"Yes, just before you arrived. Rogue did something and Yami and I remembered our name and then you arrived. You, Shadi, were once called Sha-_da_."

"Shada? Hmm… Than I am the reborn soul of one of my ancestors. In my family, we have passed down the name of 'Shadi' from father to son. It would come as no surprise that with thousands of years between then and now, the name would have become distorted. Are there any others you know in this time that were around then as well?"

Yugi nodded and leaned against Yami, "Yep. You already know about Seto. But Jii-chan was there as well. He was our senior Advisor and had carried the Rod while our father ruled. It was then passed to Seto when we became Pharaoh. Jii-chan was called Shimon Muran. He was a powerful magician and taught us a lot of spells and how to use the power granted by the shadow realm. But he wasn't as powerful as Mahado…" Yugi stopped talking, his excitement leaving him as he remembered his captain of the guard.

"Who was Mahado?" Ishizu inquired, curiosity getting to her.

The dark half put his feet up on the coffee table and leaned his head back, "We can discuss this later. It is a painful memory that has just resurfaced. We will tell you later, after we figure out how we're going to explain this to Xavier-sama and the others…"

"How about you start with the truth, bub?" Logan replied, announcing the presence of himself and the others. "Let's see where that gets you and go from there."

Yami sat up and gave the man a glare while the rest of the X-Men found places to sit. Ororo led Kurt and Jean in with trays of refreshments, which were placed on the coffee table. The African poured a cup and offered it to Ishizu, who politely accepted it before handing it to Malik. She took the second offered cup for herself. Yami leaned over and poured Yugi a cup while the light inspected Khaibit.

Yugi smiled at Xavier and the others, "If you will give us just a moment, our friend needs our help."

Xavier waved his hand in assent, curiosity getting to him. As far as he knew, Yugi's only real abilities lay in creating shields and talking to his brother via the mind.

"You know how to do this?" Shadi asked curiously.

Yugi nodded as he gently pried the tomb robber's arms off of Malik and leaned the white haired boy against the couch, "We've remembered a lot. Including how to control the power of the Shadows and of the individual Items. What we learned so long ago is fresh in our minds. We'll have to use the Key to go inside and see if the connection has been lost. If it has, we'll leave the Eye with him. If not, we'll take it until it can be given to its rightful bearer."

Shadi titled his head as he studied Yugi. The memories he had gained seemed to have affected him already. And not in a bad way. The Egyptian stood and walked behind the couch, ready to hold Khaibit down. He met Yugi's eyes just before the boy used the Key, "It is good that you have remembered so much."

Yugi smiled at the praise and then pulled the Ankh from Yami's soul room as the spirit merged with his light. The Key shone brightly as the Sennen Eye appeared on the boy's forehead. A second eye appeared on Khaibit as Yugi raised the Ankh to the tomb robber's chest. He turned the Key and entered the spirit's mind.

*****000*****

End Chapter

To all the people who read chapter 11 before I fixed the problems with the scene breaks: I'm sorry. striped the coding and I forgot to re-edit them in before posting. They have since been fixed. Thank you for attempting to read it that way.


	14. Chapter 13

**The Fourth "God"**

A Yu-Gi-Oh!/X-Men: Evolution crossover fic.

Written by Rogue Moon

_"Into the Abyss I'll fall-_

_the eye of Horus,_

_Into the eyes of the night-_

_watching me go._

_Green is the cat's eye that glows-_

_in this Temple,_

_Enter the risen Osiris-_

_risen again._

_:::::_

_When I was living this lie-_

_fear was my game,_

_People would worship and fall-_

_drop to their knees._

_So bring me the blood and red wine-_

_for the one to succeed me,_

_For he is a man and a God-_

_and He will die too._

_:::::_

_Now I am cold-_

_but a ghost lives in my veins,_

_Silent the terror that reigned-_

_marbled in stone._

_A shell of a man God preserved-_

_a thousand ages,_

_But open the gates of my Hell-_

_I will strike from my grave. _"

Iron Maiden, "_Powerslave_" (minus the chorus)

*****000*****

Chapter Thirteen

Dust.

The first thing they saw was dust.

It was everywhere, covered everything, muted what little light there was and colored all it touched a uniform gray. It seemed an eternity before they realized they were in a room long unused, its door propped open just wide enough to squeeze through. A single set of footprints led through the door, but there was no such evidence of a return trip… As if the room had been abandoned for good.

Yami touched Yugi's shoulder and tilted his head at the door. The sound of someone sobbing could be heard beyond it. Yugi nodded and stepped up to the door, easing it open a little further as Yami took the lead and went through.

The hall between the two rooms was free of dust and the light filtering into the first room came from the light pouring from the second. The spirit of the ring was curled up to the entrance, as close as he could get, for there was indeed a barrier closing it off to him. Held in his arms was a doll that looked suspiciously like Malik.

Yami examined the barrier while Yugi approached the spirit, "Are you all right?"

Khaibit looked up and then looked away, trying to hide the tears that just wouldn't stop flowing from his eyes. He felt like the Nile during the flood season. He also made the doll go away, "What do you want?"

"Just to see how you're doing. Ishizu and Malik are very worried about you…"

The spirit snorted and rubbed away some of the tears, "It figures the bitch would bring me to see you. Malik places too much value on her words…"

"And you not enough," Yami interjected, not looking at the thief.

Khaibit stood, crossing his arms and pretended to examine his shoes, "Shut up. Who asked you anyway?"

Yugi exchanged a glance with his dark that told the spirit not to respond. Yugi did so instead, "We didn't come here to argue with you. We came to help. Ryou is our friend and that makes you are friend as well."

Both Yami and the Spirit of the Ring snorted at that comment and then exchanged glares.

Yugi crossed his arms and huffed, "Admit it or not, it's still true. Now…" Yugi turned to the barrier, "What is this all about?"

Khaibit turned his back to the both of them as more tears spilled. He didn't want the Pharaoh to see any more weakness than he already had, "Didn't the bitch tell you? Ryou cast me out. He somehow made it so I cannot enter…"

"Ryou didn't make this," Yami replied, his hands hovering just over the shield. He could feel the evil radiating off of it. Ryou was not evil and had never been one to hold an evil thought. That part of him was embodied in the Spirit of the Ring.

"Than why can't I enter?" the spirit spat out, turning around in anger. "Why else wouldn't I be able to enter his mind? Nothing short of Shadow magic can keep me out! His modern mind knows nothing of controlling the Shadows!" The tears were coming freely now and the spirit couldn't stop himself from sobbing, "How else would I be kept out?! He hates me! That's why this thing is here! He hates me!"

Yugi embraced Khaibit in a hug, trying to comfort the spirit as he collapsed to the floor in a fit of emotion that completely surprised Yami. In all his memories of the man, he could not remember a single time the thief had shown any emotion akin to sorrow or regret. Even during their last days when he had been condemned to share the fate the Pharaoh had willingly chosen to undergo.

Yami kneeled beside his light and his former enemy, "Ryou did not erect this barrier. You are right that nothing short of a man who can control the shadows has done this. In this day and age, there are those born with the ability to tap into a man's mind without magic. One such has bound Ryou's mind into service. You cannot enter because he has the power of the shadows backing him. But you have not been cut off from Ryou. You do not need the Eye to stay in this world. The power of the Ring will support you."

The thief stared daggers at Yami, "How do you know?"

"The barrier has a signature on it," he replied waving at the shield. "You were never properly trained in the way of magic, so I'm not surprised you can't tell. But there is a signature on it. It is a mixed barrier. Made more of metal power than magic. The mental power is there to keep Ryou in, and the magic to keep you out."

Anger rose in the spirit. Someone dared to keep him from what was his? Make him think Ryou was the cause? They would pay, and pay dearly, "Who is it? Can you tell their name?"

Yami shook his head, "I'm sorry, no. But if we encountered him on the street I could point him out. His signature is not one I recognize."

"What is his signature?"

Yami studied the shield for a moment, wanting to get all the details, "A snake… wrapped around a mind with the wings of kite sprouting from just below its head… it isn't an asp, though… I don't recognize the snake as one of Egypt… a second symbol below it… a cartouche… World's End?"

Khaibit's head snapped around, gazing at the shield, trying to see what the Pharaoh saw, "World's End? It says World's End?"

"Yes. Do you know what it means?"

"Oh, yes… I certainly do… That fucking son of a…"

Yami's hands closed over Khaibit's mouth, "Watch your language please. You are in the presence of the Pharaoh."

The Spirit pushed Yami's hand away, "News flash, baka, your reign ended over a millennia ago. I can fucking say whatever the bloody hell I want."

"At least be polite enough to wait until we leave."

Khaibit gave him an 'oh, please' look, "Me? Polite? Your eyes must be going, oh great one… You've got me confused with Ryou."

*****000*****

What had seemed a half hour to Yugi and Yami, had taken place in less than a second in reality. To all observers it looked as though Yugi had just raised the Key and then immediately lowered it. Shadi and his companions knew a lot more had happened and Xavier had a strong suspicion.

Khaibit opened his eyes as Yami Yugi stepped backward, separating. Yami held the Key out to Shadi, "We thank you for loaning it to us, High Priest."

The Egyptian's cheeks colored and he bowed his head as he took the Item, "Thank you, my Pharaoh."

"He doesn't hold that title anymore, baka," Khaibit interjected, holding out the Eye to Yami. When the Pharaoh took it, he pushed himself into a more comfortable position. It was not lost on Yugi and Ishizu that the spirit moved closer to Malik when he did so. Yugi started grinning.

Malik frowned, shifting his body to allow Khaibit room, "What are you grinning at?"

Yugi couldn't help it as he had never noticed it before now. But it made sense that they liked each other after he thought about it for a just a little bit. And he also couldn't help the words that started to pour from his mouth. It was an English rhyme he had learned from Ryou, "Malik and Bakura, sitting in a tree…"

Several people had to spit out their drinks to avoid choking from surprise as the boys' faces went red, whether from embarrassment or anger or both wasn't apparent. Their simultaneous leap at Yugi, however, was very apparent. The small boy dodged the tackle by jumping over the second couch, letting the two fall into in a tangled heap.

Yami smirked and crossed his arms as he sat down where Malik had just been, "You two make a very cute couple. Almost as cute as Bakura and the little doll he was holding in his Room."

Malik scooted away from Bakura, feigning disgust, and gave the spirit a wary look, "You have a doll of me?"

Khaibit growled and glared at Yami, "I. Do. Not. Have. A. Doll. Of. Malik."

Yugi popped his head up from behind the couch, "Sure you do. It's one of those little UFO plushies. You were snuggling with it."

"SHUT UP!" Khaibit jumped over the couch, trying to grab Yugi as the small boy scrambled away to hide behind Ishizu. "I don't have a plushie and I don't snuggle!"

Yami's grin got wider and he leaned forward, "You don't snuggle? Then what were you doing when you arrived? If it wasn't snuggling…"

Khaibit stood, shaking in anger as Ishizu took another sip of her tea and then replied for him, "I believe an appropriate term would be 'cuddle'. He was doing it for several hours while we waited for Shadi to arrive."

"Really? Did he do anything else?"

Ishizu put her tea down and smiled at her brother, "Well… just before we arrived, Khaibit was clinging to Malik and moaning very loudly."

Yami pretended to be horrified, "In public?! Couldn't you two at least get a room?"

"I'm fucking going to kill you!" the spirit and Malik screamed together and dived for Yami. The dark one disappeared by entering the puzzle and then leaving it, appearing next to Yugi, "Now, now… What have I told you about your language? And Malik, all your promises…"

Rashid stood and placed himself between his brother and Yami, blocking their way, "Please. We are guests in this house and your behavior is inappropriate."

"Oh, no, keep going ya'll," Rogue answered from the door, Rahnae hanging back behind her. "We're enjoying the show."

Xavier turned himself to look at her, "Are you all right?"

"Never better," She replied, joining the others and finding a place to sit next to Kurt. Her brother had long forgotten to be afraid of her power when some of the others still flinched. She smiled at the twins, "Hey. You doing all right?"

Yugi nodded and Yami frowned, "We did not hurt you, did we?"

Rogue waved her hand, dismissing any blame, "Nothing more than I do to mahself on a regular basis."

"Now that everyone is here and you are done with whatever it is that you did," Xavier drew the room's attention to himself as he watched Rahnae lean against the doorway, clearly wanting to be somewhere else, "Would you care to make some introductions and perhaps honor us with an explanation?"

The twins blushed and sat down on the couch they had started on. Yugi met Yami's eyes as they talked to each other, trying to decide how to go about this. When they were done, Yami spoke for them, "Can we give you our presentation?"

It took a moment for Xavier to remember that he had them working on researching Egypt, "I suppose…"

"Great!" Yugi grinned and Yami disappeared. When he reappeared seconds later, he was holding what Millennium Items he still had. Yugi glanced over at Shadi, "Could you put the Ankh on the table for a moment?"

Shadi did as he was asked while Yami arranged the five items. He left the puzzle around Yugi's neck for obvious reasons and could not place the Ring amongst them because it still hung around Ryou's neck. And Ryou was who knows where.

Yugi stood and cleared his throat, and then started his narration, "Five thousand years ago, Egypt's culture had just begun to develop into what it is recognized as today. During what is referred to as the First Dynasty, before Pharaoh Narmer, currently the oldest recorded Pharaoh, came to power, there existed the Pharaoh Rama-tut. His reign is not recorded because he forbade the writing of his existence upon the halls of the temples. Writing was magic and magic written wrong could cost a man his life…"

"If his reign wasn't recorded, how do you know about it?" Scott interrupted.

Yugi smiled, "That will be explained further in the presentation.

"During his reign, Rama-tut brought the first of the slaves to Egypt. Some were from Nubian tribes that bordered the Upper Kingdom, others were from the Hebrew tribes that wandered the Lower Kingdom. Amongst these many mixed slaves was a man unlike any other. He called himself En-Sabah-Nur. The First One.

"Rama-tut saw potential in the slave and offered him the world in exchange for complete obedience. En-Sabah-Nur refused and started a rebellion against his Pharaoh. During the next few years, Rama-tut led armies to try and destroy the slave. During one raid, he failed to return home and was proclaimed dead by the Priests who scryed for him but could not find his _ba_ anywhere in the living world. The world of the dead could not be looked into.

"His first son, Akunumkanon, became Pharaoh and his second son, Akunadin became High Priest of Ra. Akunadin was a great magician, just as his father was, and could read and write several languages. All except that of a book Rama-tut had left. It took Akunadin one long year to even decipher part of it. The part that he could eventually read, told of a way to stop the slave who had powers the like of which had never been seen by most magicians. The book told of a place called the Shadow Realm. It was a place inhabited by the monsters that hid within the hearts of all peoples. The book told of a way to take power from that place. Rama-tut had been working on creating a weapon against En-Sabah-Nur using the power of the Shadow Realm. He had died before he could complete it.

"Akunadin asked his brother for permission to continue their fathers' work and Akunumkanon agreed. Akunadin soon presented his Pharaoh with the _makaoa-kha-renput_."

Khaibit growled and glared at Yami, "Which is a nice way of saying he slaughtered hundreds of innocents just to stop one small thorn of a man."

Yami glared back, "He did not. Father would never have permitted that to happen. He learned from grandfathers mistake of power through terror."

"You really are an idiot. Do you actually believe that? Akunadin slaughtered most of the Kuruelna Village just to get enough power from their blood to create the Puzzle you so proudly wear."

Yami stood, shaking in anger, "Liar! Akunadin did no such thing! My father would never have allowed it!"

Khaibit stood and returned Yami's anger with his own, "Lair?! I watched my mother get

raped and gutted by your father's personal army just so that thrice-cursed Akunadin could use the power released in her death and put it into Ring! I watched my sister strung up like dead animal as the blood was emptied from her body to be gathered in wine bottles. I watched her shrivel into a living mummy and then I watched as her _ka _was harvested and became the first monster to be controlled by the Items!" Khaibit was shouting now, Shadi and Rashid holding onto his arms to keep him from hurting Yami. Yugi was attempting not to throw up from the images the spirit made him envision. "I then watched my father be killed by that _ka_! They slaughtered my entire village! I was one of the few to escape notice! And only because my mother hid me! I watched as my friends died on the swords of the soldiers! Both the metal ones and ones between their legs! They didn't even let the bodies remain for a proper burial! They set fire to the bodies and kept it burning until all that was left was ash! Their souls weren't even allowed to attempt the crossing! Their _ka_ was enslaved and sundered from their _ba_! Oh, yes! What a wonderful gift your father received! What an absolute joy of a gift Akunadin gave!"

Yugi stopped trying to hold back the bile that wanted to escape his mouth. He ran outside to the garden and retched into one of the potted plants. Yami had tears in his eyes as denial burned through him. His father would never have allowed such a thing to occur. But he knew that Akunadin was capable of such evil. Had the man not possessed Seto and forced him to duel for the right to be Pharaoh?

Khaibit had stopped trying to fight the arms that kept him from the object of his anger. Grief, fresh from newly awakened memories, and the lack of his lighter half to lash out at left the spirit drained. He slumped in the arms of his captors, sobbing over the loss of his family. Revenge was all that had fueled his life until he had encountered the reborn half of his soul. Ryou had changed him and now he openly wept at the memories.

Yami fell to his knees, tears coming from his eyes as Yugi's sympathetic grief flooded through him. Ishizu attempted to keep herself from following Yugi outside and Malik couldn't think of a thing to do to help either his sister or his friend.

Many of the X-men wanted to do the same as Yugi. The ones that did broke for the bathroom instead of the garden.

Xavier and Logan exchanged glances that spoke volumes to each other.

*****000*****

It took another half hour for everyone to calm down and regroup. Yugi joined Yami on the couch, burrowing himself into the arms of his other half. Yami continued the presentation:

"After Akunadin presented the Items to Akunumkanon, the Pharaoh divided the seven pieces amongst his most trusted Priests, keeping the Puzzle of Unity for himself. Using the power of the Items, he summoned Monsters from the hearts of criminals to use as soldiers in the fight against En-Sabah-Nur.

"During one such fight, he was killed. The Puzzle passed to the new Pharaoh, Akunumkanon's son: Atemu.

"Atemu was fourteen years of age when he became the living embodiment of Ra. During this period of Egypt' history, that was a very literal thing. He was anointed and the Ritual of Ascension performed ten days after Akunumkanon was felled. He entered the temple as a man and left as a living God. His full magical powers unleashed and at his disposal.

"The Puzzle allowed him access to the power of the Shadow Realm and all the _ka_ that had been captured by the _makaoa-kha-renput_. But his own powers of magic were already great and his will so strong that it exceeded that of the High Priest Shimon Muran, his most trusted advisor.

"Atemu was so strong in mind that no one could best him in any game he was challenged to. He always won. During his reign he was given the title _Suten-nu-heba._"

"King of games," Rogue translated.

Yami nodded, "Yes. The King of Games. He continued his father's campaign against the accursed one. But he did not hold it in as high a priority as his father had. He was more concerned with making his country a just and lawful one. A country where there were no slaves, and people were equal. His father had raised him to believe in equality. Something his grandfather had used all his power to keep from the realm.

"Atemu did his best to rule fairly and campaign against criminals. His greatest adversary was a tomb robber who arrogantly proclaimed himself as Thief King _Ba-khu-Ra_."

Khaibit snorted, "Arrogant? Look who's talking, Mr. I'm-a-living-God-and-whatever-I-say-goes."

Yami started another glare-fest with the spirit, so Yugi took up the story, "Four years passed before the two actually met. The thief had just plundered Akunumkanon's tomb and was flaunting it. He challenged the Atemu to a duel for the body of the former Pharaoh. Atemu refused and _Ba-khu-Ra_ threw the mummy down a canyon.

"Atemu wished to fight the thief then and there, but his Chief of the Guard, Mahado, refused to let his Pharaoh risk his life. So Mahado challenged the thief to a Shadow Game. Mahado lost the game, his life and the Ring that night. The thief took the Ring as his own. The Ring was one of the _makaoa-kha-renput._

"Shortly after this, Akunadin used his _makaoa-kha-renput_ to take control of High Priest Seto in an attempt to make the man Pharaoh in place of Atemu. At the end of the Game, Akunadin's soul was lost and Seto abdicated his place as a High Priest. He felt he had betrayed his Pharaoh by not being strong enough to prevent Akunadin's possession. Atemu did not feel the same, but he also could not force his friend to remain when his spirit was so broken.

"Eventually the Thief King and the Pharaoh met again and fought a Shadow Game that forced Atemu to summon the Gods to his aid. In the end, Atemu won the game. But by this point the accursed one had made himself more than a simply a thorn. En-Sabah-Nur had those with him that could use the power of the Shadow realm. He named the four servants his Horsemen and sent them to attack the Pharaoh.

"Atemu had just won his battle with _Ba-khu-Ra_ and was exhausted when the Horsemen attacked. His remaining High Priests: Isis, Shada, and Karim fought the attackers and forced them to retreat for a time. But without the full power of the _makaoa-kha-renput_, Atemu knew that En-Sabah-Nur would not again be beaten back."

Yugi leaned over the coffee table and ran his hand down the haft of the Rod, "He also knew of a way to rid the world of the accursed one's evil. It involved the destruction of the Items and the end of the Shadow Games. It also involved the destruction of his own soul.

"When he informed his High Priests of his plan, they protested furiously. But his word was law and he told them they must do as he said. So they agreed to his words, but thought of plots to avoid the destruction of his soul. They felt that his soul was truly worthy of joining with Osiris on the throne of the afterlife. So when Atemu set himself into the final sleep, his High Priests altered the ritual. They brought in the Thief King, who had been forced into the final sleep and joined with Atemu in the ritual.

"To rid the world of the great evil, one soul would have to be sacrificed. But they believed it did not have to be a single soul. They believed that two halves of a soul could do the work of a single, whole one. So they bound the darkness of the two souls within the _makaoa-kha-renput_ they carried and in doing so, bound En-Sabah-Nur to a sleep that would only end if either of the souls were fully joined with their other half.

"To do this, the mage that preformed the rite would need to hold all seven of the items. So the High Priests did what they could to scatter the items. In the case of the puzzle, they broke it into pieces and placed it in a false tomb. Atemu was not buried with it for fear that his spirit would put it back together again."

Yami and Khaibit shared a grin at the irony of that statement. Then they remembered that they were enemies and returned to their glaring contest. Yugi touched his pendant and held it out for the room to see, "The _makaoa-kha-renput_ consists of seven items. This one is the Puzzle of Unity. The Millennium Puzzle. I completed it two years ago, when I was fourteen, on the anniversary of the day Atemu received it and completed the Ritual of Ascension, though I did not know that until just recently. That's when I met Yami."

His hand left the puzzle and picked up the Eye, "The Eye of the Mind, the Millennium Eye, was found in Egypt by Mr. Pegasus Crawford a little over thirty years ago. Soon after he 'created' the card game Duel Monsters and almost ten years later it became a worldwide phenomenon amongst gamers. But its power was not meant for him." He held the Eye out to Malik, "its power was given to the wrong person."

Malik's eyes widened at the significance of Yugi's words. Gulping in apprehension, he took the Item and held it carefully. He knew that the only way to access its full power was to replace one of his own eyes with it. He wasn't too sure he wanted to go through the pain. Not wanting to make that decision at this point, he tucked the Item in his pocket.

Yugi picked up the Ankh, "The Key of the Soul, the Millennium Key, has been passed down from father to son in Shadi's family since the days of Atemu's reign." Yugi handed the Ankh to Shadi, who slipped its cord around his neck. The Japanese boy moved up the necklace, "The Necklace of Truth, the Millennium Tanhk, was also held by Shadi's family. But he gave it to Ishizu. This time he correctly chose it's bearer." Yugi held the Necklace out to Ishizu who slipped around her neck as she had a thousand times before, comforted in its returned presence.

Yugi turned his attention to the scales, pushing down on one side, trying to get it to move even though he knew it wouldn't, "The Scales of Justice, the Millennium Scales. A mortal can use these to perform the job that rightly falls to Anubis." He looked up at Rahnae to see if she understood, but her eyes were filled with discomfort, not understanding. Sighing, the Japanese boy picked the scales up and held them out to Rashid, "Karim once held these, now it's your turn."

The Egyptian took the Scales, noting that no matter how they were held, both sides stayed level with each other, neither going lower than the other. Shadi took the feather pinned to his turban and handed it to Rashid, "This will be useful."

Yugi's attention turned to the Rod, picking it up and placing it on his lap "The Scepter of Justice, the Millennium Rod. This belongs to Seto."

The final Item was not there to show off, but Yami spoke of it, never breaking his focus on Khaibit, "The final item of the set is the Ring of Wisdom, the Millennium Ring. It once belonged to Mahado but now belongs to the soul of the tomb robber. Mahado still serves, though not in a way that can be readily seen.

"These treasures were only one of three sets used to seal away En-Sabah-Nur. The second set was a green stone that held the soul of a magical spider who was to spin a web to entangle any who tried to enter the sealed tomb of the accursed one. He could only be summoned if both halves to the stone were brought together. The final door, and first that would need to be opened, was sealed with a Key made from a scepter and three rings, the pieces of which were scattered to the ends of the Earth. Atemu assured that these treasures were formed before he entered the final sleep.

"We are not mutants. We are sorry for lying to you but it was the only way we could think to cover for our powers. We are also not brothers. Yugi and I… we are the two halves of Atemu's soul, split apart five thousand years ago in an attempt to seal away the accursed one.

"One half trapped in the Puzzle of Unity and the other left to be reborn. Yugi is the half that was reborn in this century. I am the half that was sealed."

Yugi took a deep breath and then barreled on with the explanation before any of the X-Men could interrupt, "Our powers come from the Shadow Realm and our magic centers around Duel Monsters. The card game that is so popular is actually the modern version of the Shadow Games. Duels fought long ago to decide the fate of the world. The only ones who can now directly access these powers are the holders of the Millennium Items. Six of who… well, five and a half… are here in this room. Seto Kaiba, C.E.O. of Kaiba Corp. is the other holder. And Bakura's other half who isn't here because of who knows why…"

"Because that fucking interloper Mesmero has him, that's why," Khaibit growled and then spit on the floor to clear the taste of the word from his mouth. Just saying the man's name made him sick.

Yugi expected Xavier to call him crazy, Logan to threatened to kill him unless he told the truth, Ororo to shake her head in disappointment and the rest of the X-Men to do their own versions of the above.

What he got was all of them asking one question at the same time:

"You know what Mesmero's doing?"

*****000*****

End Chapter

Yes, there's a little shonen-ai going on with Malik and Khaibit. I think those two make a great couple.


	15. Chapter 14

**The Fourth "God"**

A Yu-Gi-Oh!/X-Men: Evolution crossover fic.

Written by Rogue Moon

"…_Somewhere beyond happiness and sadness_

_I need to calculate_

_what creates my own madness_

_And I'm addicted to your punishment_

_And you're the master_

_And I am craving this disaster…"_

Poppa Roach, _Getting Away with Murder_

*****000*****

Chapter Fourteen

Seto Kaiba called his secretary and had the woman cancel all his appointments for the next week. He had been able to trace Warren's phone call to a warehouse near the docks of Domino. There was no way he'd be able to get there before the kidnapper had moved his hostages- if he moved them- he was on the other side of the world after all. But Mokuba was already back home and could send some of their security force to check it out. If he was lucky, his men would find Anzu and Warren and beat the tar out of whoever had taken them both. If he wasn't lucky, then maybe his men would at least find some evidence as to where the guy moved them.

Kaiba started to shut down his laptop when it beeped with an e-mail alert. The billionaire decided to check it before leaving for the airport. After scanning through it he ran another search on his computer to try and trace it. Whoever had sent it, however, had covered their tracks and he ended up in a loop that would take more time and a more powerful computer than he had access to at the moment. Growling to himself, Seto shut the computer down and got in his helicopter, his destination changing from Domino, Japan to Bayville, New York.

*****000*****

Anzu woke up in pain, the last thing she remembered was walking down the street next to a strangely quiet Ryou. Her face was pressed against leather as whatever structure she was in vibrated, emitting a motor-like hum. Attempting to open her eyes, the brunette found that she couldn't open her left one without more pain flaring across her face. A gasp escaped her lips before she could stop it. The pain stung worse than a twisted ankle, something she was far more used to.

"Awake are you?" An unfamiliar voice questioned from beyond her small range of vision. "Good. We need to talk. Ryou has divulged a great deal of information, but somehow he is able to resist whenever I ask him about a certain… subject. One I know you have had dealings with yourself…"

Anzu tried to turn her head so she could see the person talking, but couldn't twist her body enough to do so. She had been tied down very securely. Hissing in yet more pain, she replied with a couple questions of her own, "Where am I? Who are you and what have you done to Ryou?"

The voice chuckled as the vehicle, it had to be a car or something, started to bounce, "Truthfully, I'm not too sure where we are. Somewhere over China, I believe, it's hard to tell when you're a few thousand feet in the air. My name is of no consequence and as for Ryou… That will soon matter to you as little as I want it to matter…"

The owner of the voice stepped in front of the girl and knelt down so he could look her in the eyes.

*****000*****

Kaiba was an excellent pilot, but couldn't do a lot about shrinking the distance between himself and his goal. It took him longer than he wanted to find the school Yugi was staying at and land on its vast front lawn. If he hadn't been in such a bad mood and so focused, Kaiba might have appreciated the layout of the grounds. _Might_ have.

Barely waiting for his helicopter to shut down, the millionaire jumped out of the cockpit and stalked to the front doors, suitcase in hand. He went to knock, but someone had heard him coming and the door was opened before he had the chance. Seto found himself looking down at a short, stocky man with wild black hair and muscles galore.

"Can I help you?" the man asked in a gruff voice, not trying to hide the suspicion in it.

Kaiba's eyes narrowed in annoyance, "I'm here to see Yugi Motou."

The man's eyebrow rose as he looked past the boy, "That's a no Helicopter Zone."

"So sue me. Is Motou here or not?"

The man gave Kaiba a slow once over and then opened the door enough for the boy to enter, "Follow me."

The room he led Seto to was a salon filled with people. Kaiba recognized some, aside from Yugi, but had never met the others. Not that he cared about any of them. Ignoring everyone but his rival, Seto stalked around the room and put his laptop on the coffee table in front of Yugi. The billionaire turned it on, found the e-mail he wanted and turned the machine to face the other, "Explain."

Yugi sighed and held up the Millennium Rod, "This is yours."

Seto gave the item a glare, then pointed at the computer, "I don't have time for your magic mumbo-jumbo. Tell me why _I_ got this e-mail and why Anzu's involved when you have what this guy wants."

"Then make time for our magic mumbo-jumbo, Kaiba," Yami replied from behind the C.E.O. Seto spun, his eyes wide. He looked back at where Yugi had been and found his rival looking up from his spot on the couch. Whirling back, he stared down at Yami. His mind raced and seconds later he turned back to Yugi, eyes narrowed in suspicion, "What's the meaning of this?"

Yugi sighed as Yami sat down next to him and handed him a glass of ice. The tea had been a bit too hot for the boy, "Kaiba… How is it that you can so thoroughly deny what lies in front of your eyes? You would disbelieve the existence of real magic until it slits your throat, and even then, scoff at the illusion while your spirit watched your body get buried before the afterlife forced you to enter whatever gates you believe in, wouldn't you?"

The C.E.O. dismissed the idea before giving it a chance and focused again on the e-mail, "Whatever. Explain this message."

"You're being very rude, you know," Yami replied with a smirk as Yugi sipped his tea. "You march into someone else's home and make demands and don't even introduce yourself… Tsk, tsk, Seto… I know you were taught better."

"If you don't want to explain, then say so," Kaiba growled out as he slammed his laptop shut and turned to leave, "When Anzu asks why it took so long to find her, I'll happily tell her it was because you refused to help."

"We never said we wouldn't help," Yugi murmured. "We just think you should be a little more polite. As for the e-mail…" The boy shrugged, "I haven't a clue as to how to help with that."

"You didn't even read it."

Yami raised an eyebrow as he rattled off the contents:

" '_Mr. Kaiba,_

_By now you will have found out that a one Anzu Mazaki has not been home for a good twelve hours. She has not called anyone, not shown up for dance practice, nor has she gone to see your beloved little brother, Mokuba. And she definitely didn't check in with you over lunch as she does every day. If you want her back you must consult the King of Games. It is with him that my quarrel, and my goal, lies. Not with you._

_Sincerely,_

_Mesmero.'_ "

Yugi finished the contents of his cup and placed it on the table, once again picking up the Rod, "Forgive me if I did not get the words exactly right, I only saw the letter for a brief instance. Now, will you please take this? It rightfully belongs to you."

Seto gave his rival, both of them- he'd figure out how they pulled that off later- an appraising look as he thought things over, "If I take the damn thing, you'll quit bugging me about it right? And you'll help me figure this ransom out, yes?"

"Hai."

"Fine," Kaiba took the Rod, tucking it into one of his trench's deep pockets. "Now if you don't know what this guy is talking about, could you at least direct me to a computer so I can backtrack the e-mail?"

Yugi looked at Logan, Logan glanced at Xavier and the bald man seemed to think it over for a moment before getting the older boy's attention, "I suppose we could provide one as you are a friend of Yugi's and obviously have a vested interest in this new development. There is one on that roll-top desk that you may use."

Kaiba nodded his head and sat down at the desk, opening it up and finding the component box. When he found it, he in turn opened that up and hooked his laptop to it, then turned the unit on.

Logan's eyes narrowed as he watched the boy, "What are you doing, bub?"

"Linking the PC's to give my laptop access to more memory and computing power," the boy replied without turning around. "I need to trace the e-mail past the server it was sent from and to the actual IP address. Too many free-web servers out there… Once I do that, I can pinpoint the physical location of the PC that it was sent from. To do all that, I need enough power. My laptop is better that the best on the market due to the modifications I've added, but it still needs access to more computing power to pull off a trace this convoluted. The data-path goes form one web server to the next, sometimes hitting the same one several times in a row. It's like a tangled string. Whoever this Mesmero is, he knows how to cover his tracks…"

After a suitably long silence as the others watching Seto got bored, Khaibit spoke, "So are all of you freaks like that Katherine girl. You walk through walls and stuff?"

"Who are you calling a freak?" Yami responded before anyone else had a chance. "If I remember correctly, you used to walk through walls all the time. Including the day we met and you tossed my father's mummy down a canyon."

"Yeah… that was fun," The spirit answered wistfully. "I miss those days."

Yami glared, "You're nuts."

"Did you figure that out on your own, or did prissy-pants millionaire boy help you out?"

The Pharaoh gave him a look that promised a great deal of torture before he turned his attention to Xavier and the others, "Please forgive my friends. You were saying?"

The bald man raised an eyebrow, "You have chosen some… eccentric friends. As for Mesmero… He is a mutant that has crossed our path before. When we first met him, he took control of Jean and Kurt, making them steal several rings that we later found out could be combined with a jeweled rod to form a key."

Yami nodded, "Yes. That was for the first door."

"We then encountered him just after he stole from an associate of ours, Warren Worthington. He stole one half of the Spider Stone. We followed him across the ocean to the museum that held the other half. The two were joined and unfortunately, the spider that was formed was subsequently destroyed."

"You destroyed the Guardian?"

Scott snorted, "No. Mags did."

Khaibit leaned back, a huge grin splitting his face, "All he needs now are the Items and the Accursed One will be freed. No wonder he's ransoming Mazaki."

"What are you so happy about?" Evan asked, "Didn't you say he has your… whatever?"

The spirit frowned at the kid, "His name is Ryou Bakura. And yes, Mesmero does have my Landlord. And no, I'm not happy about that. What I am happy about, is that once he gets his hands on the items, my soul will no longer be split in two. I'll be whole again and won't have to deal with the wimp anymore."

Malik crossed his arms, "The real question is weather or not he knows the spell."

Khaibit shrugged, "So we take a picture of your back and e-mail it to him. Then he'll know for sure."

Malik took the pillow he was leaning on and smacked his friend in the face with it.

"That is out of the question," Yami replied. "Even if he has the Items, as long as he doesn't know the spell, he cannot open the last door."

The spirit of the ring growled, "What do you mean? He'll complete the ritual and join our souls as they are meant to be. If you want to damn your soul after that, then go right ahead. But if the only way for me to be whole again is to drag your ass and all the items to where ever the hell he is and let him do the bloody ritual, than I will. I like pain as much as the next guy- more so, in fact- but I'm tired of being two places at once. I'm tired of being without a real body and I'm bloody well tired of being alone in that fucking piece of metal! I _will_ be whole again!"

*****000*****

A few hours after Seto arrived and was finally able to trace the e-mail- not that it helped having come from a public library twelve city blocks from the empty warehouse Mokuba had his men thoroughly search- the X-Men and their guests were still unable to figure out a course of action to take regarding Mesmero. The little facts they had did nothing more than point to somewhere in Egypt as the location they needed to find. Egypt was a big place. They needed a little more to go on before sending the team to investigate.

During the discussions and arguments and preparations for dinner, Malik and Khaibit had somehow slipped out of the house. Instead of racking their exhausted brains in further attempts to figure out where Mesmero was, everyone concentrated on finding the two troublemakers. Yami, Yugi and Ishizu, knowing the two the best, figured they'd go where there was a crowd. Dance clubs, movie theaters, bars and even the mall were all good places to start. Logan, at first upset about having to play babysitter with the twins and their guests while they looked, was more than happy to lead the search party when he found out the insane ones had hot-wired his bike.

*****000*****

As soon as they entered the mall, the two kelptos scouted for easy marks. It was an excuse to get some native cash, but mostly they did it for amusement. Quite often in the streets of Domino, Malik would play the part of the 'idiot tourist' while Khaibit acted as his 'tour guide'. The laughs they had gotten off that and, of course, the money, was worth the embarrassment. This was a new country with new opportunities and the two would play their parts perfectly.

Malik was the first to point out someone, "How about that other white-haired freak?"

Khaibit scowled, "What other white-haired freak?"

"The one standing next to that big, fat guy and the ugly kid with bad hygiene who's opening a new pack of Duel Monsters cards."

"Sounds perfect."

The two grinned at each other and then Malik started to wander off aimlessly toward the trio while Khaibit stood talking in front of a display window, pointing out items and saying their English names as if he was explaining something to the non-existent person next to him. The blond made a show of looking around wide-eyed and bewildered before he let his eyes focus on the boy with the duel monsters cards. The others with the boy were already looking him over suspiciously when he walked up to them and started speaking in his native tongue, asking them where he could buy some of the cards, just in case one of them could speak Arabic. The three looked at each other and shrugged, completely baffled by the language.

Malik asked the same question again and started picking up the cards the ugly kid had laying on the bench next to him.

Khaibit took that as his que to come over and 'salvage' the situation, "Pardon me, I do hope my friend isn't bothering you. Come on, Malik, let's go."

Malik pointed excitedly at the cards and rattled off some random words.

"My friend wishes to know where you bought the Duel Monsters cards," Khaibit sighed, "He's a big fan of the game and wants to get some English cards for his collection."

The ugly kid's face lit up at that, "Really? You like to duel? You want to? Does he have his deck? Does he want to duel?"

Khaibit blinked and then grinned before rambling off some gibberish to Malik who shook his head vigorously and pulled out his 'fun' deck as he sat down on the other side of the bench.

"My friend would love to play," Khaibit grinned as he pushed the other white haired boy out of his way so he could sit next to the blond, "Excuse me, I'll need to translate for Malik."

The boy frowned and then shrugged, "We'll be at the food court, Toad. Meet us there when you're done."

Toad waved and exchanged his deck with Malik to be cut. After doing so he pulled out a coin, "Heads I go first, tails you go first."

Khaibit dutifully translated before asking, "What rules?"

"Latest tournament rules," the boy replied as the coin landed on tails. "Looks like you go first."

"Malik draws then places one monster face down in defense mode and then places three cards face down on the field. Your turn."

"I draw and then I…"

"During your standby phase, Malik activates his trap: Solemn Wishes."

Todd frowned, "Fine. I put two cards face down and then I summon Jinzo #7. He can attack directly so you have to take 500 points direct damage. Your turn."

"Malik draws. During his standby phase, he activates his trap: Non Aggression Area and discards one card as the price."

"I chain the activation of my traps: Gravity bind and Skull Invitation."

"Malik then flips his monster into attack mode. Poison Mummy's flip effect is activated. Take 500 points direct damage. He then activates his magic card: Pot of Greed. He then places a second monster on the field in face down defense position. Because of Gravity Bind, he cannot attack. Your turn."

"I draw one card and place it face down on the field. I can't summon anything because of your trap, but I can have Jinzo #7 attack your life points directly. So you take another 500 points damage. Your turn."

The blond snorted and muttered some Arabic under his breath.

"Malik says your deck is the stupidest one he's ever seen. Gravity Bind decks are so old news. He draws and then summons Old Vindictive Magician to the field and flips the one he placed there last turn. His second Magician's flip effect is activated and he destroys your monster. You have no Monsters on the field so Malik has both his Old Vindictive Magician's attack you. Take 900 points damage. Your turn."

"Tell him he's a fool if he thinks he's going to win just because he's in the lead now. I draw and then summon a second Jinzo #7. He attacks directly so your friend can just take the 500 points. Your turn."

Khaibit translated and Malik pretended to be insulted.

"Malik says you're the fool. He draws and places one card on the field in face down defense position. He will forgo attacking this turn. Your move."

"I draw and then play Infinite Cards. Jinzo #7 attacks directly. Your turn, idiot."

The blond rattled off a quick sentence and shared a conspiratorial grin with Khaibit.

"Malik wants to know if you had the chance to watch any part of the Battle City Tournament. He draws and then equips his first Old Vindictive Magician with Ax of Despair, increasing the monsters' attack by 1000. He then places one monster in face down defense position. He then attacks with his Old Vindictive Magician. The one that has 1450 attack, of course. The Magician wipes the floor with your Jinzo #7 and you take 950 points of damage from the attack and another 300 from your own trap. His second Old Vindictive Magician attacks and since you have no monsters on the field, you take 450 directly from him. Lets see… That leaves you at 4600 and Malik is still at, what? 8700? Yes, that's right. So did you get to see any part of the Battle City Tournament?"

"Screw you. Yeah I saw some of it. Why?"

"Malik wants to know if you got to see any part of the finals."

"Maybe. I draw and place a card on the field. Your turn."

"Not attacking? Oh wait, you have no monsters. So sorry. Malik draws and places a card on the field. He then attacks with both his Magicians for a total of 1900 points damage."

"I flip my trap: the Emperor's Holiday. It negates the effect of all equip Magic cards. I only take 900 damage."

"That still leaves you at 3700 while Malik is now at 9200. Solemn Wishes is a wonderful card. Malik ends his turn."

"I draw and then activate Raigeki."

"Nice move, too bad Malik activates his trap: Magic Drain."

"Too bad for you, 'cause I can just discard this Pot of Greed to keep Raigeki in play. There go all your monsters and you take 300 points for each. Plus 300 for that Ax you have equipped to one of them for a total of 1500."

"So you can count. Amazing. I would have pegged you as having no education. But you're now down to 3100 while Malik is still at 7400."

"I'm not done. I summon 8-Claws Scorpion and have him attack. Your friend takes another 300. Now I'm done. Ha!"

Khaibit and Malik chuckled to each other and the white-haired one kept talking, "So you do have some talent. Malik draws and oh, my! There goes his life points! Now he's at 7600. He then summons Gravekeeper's Spear Soldier in attack position. Your turn."

"You can't attack! Ha! Gravity Bind is still a great card! Ha!"

"We can't attack. But neither can you, unless you want to lose that monster, of course."

"I can't attack with him but I can with one I just drew. I summon Ooguchi. He can attack directly for 300 points. I then end my turn."

"Ooo… Scary. Malik draws and then sacrifices his Gravekeeper's Spear Soldier to bring out his Patrician of Darkness. Your turn."

"I draw and summon Leghul. I have him and Ooguchi attack your life points directly."

"So sorry, but I'm afraid you forgot to read the fine print. Malik's Patrician has an effect. One that lets Malik choose whom your monsters attack. And I'm afraid they've changed their mind and are going to commit suicide by attack the Patrician of Darkness. And since he's in attack mode, you take the difference in damage from your life points. So that's 1700 points from each attack that gets gouged from your life points. Which means you lose."

Todd glared at the two, "You cheated, didn't you?"

"Not at all," Malik replied for himself, startling the boy. "I'm just a lot better, even when I'm not trying. You see, I'm the second best player in the world. Only one person has ever beaten me in a duel. If you had seen Battle City, you would have known that."

The two thieves stood and stretched. Malik gathered his cards and Khaibit dug through the wallet he had snatched. Frowning at the lack of cash and only one credit card that he couldn't use, he tossed the near-empty thing into Todd's lap, "Tell your friend to get a job. There's no excuse to be that flat-assed broke."

The mutant blinked as he opened the leather square to find Peitro's face smiling up at him from a New York driver's permit. When he looked up to find the two hustlers, they were already lost in the crowd.

*****000*****

Wolverine watched his prey exit the movie theater and head down the sidewalk to a nearby café. The Canadian had caught their scent entering the building almost an hour and a half earlier. A quick conversation with the ticket changer had revealed that two kids matching the troublemaker's descriptions had bought tickets for '_Zombie Bloodbath_', an old cult classic that had several shows from 6pm to midnight. Logan decided to wait for them, calling the others on the search to let them know the kids had been found. A half-hour after that, the search party had regrouped in a restaurant across the street, taking the opportunity to have dinner and a nice evening out before wrangling in the other two.

Logan got the rest of the groups' attention. Ororo paid as everyone left and followed the kids a few minutes later, cutting across to the other side so it didn't look like they were tailing the two. They all gave up trying to stay hidden when the ground under their feet trembled and knocked them down. In the street ahead of the troublemakers were the Brotherhood, and they didn't look friendly.

*****000*****

End Chapter

"Zombie Bloodbath" is an actual movie. I don't know what company produced it, but it belongs to them. I only used it because I have a friend that was cast as one of the zombies and I needed the name of a really bad B movie to have Malik and Yami Bakura go see. And when I say 'really bad', I mean _REALLY_ bad. The movie is good for a quick gross out or a good laugh.

This chapter is dedicated to my friend: the zombie girl with the flannel shirt.


	16. Chapter 15

**The Fourth "God"**

A Yu-Gi-Oh!/X-Men: Evolution crossover fic.

Written by Rogue Moon

"_Remy, this is Eugene, Quill and Winston. They actually thought they could break into the headmaster's study, steal a copy of today's computer science test, and _not_ get busted."_

"_Oh... oh my. Stealing.... very bad."_

~Kitty Pryde and Remy LeBeau

Gambit #10; _Hath No Fury Part 1 (of 3)_; page 3; published 2004

*****000*****

Chapter Fifteen

Khaibit dived out of the way of Toad's darting tongue, face contorted in disgust, "Are you actually trying to lick me to death?"

"What? You aren't into the Toad? Everyone likes getting some tongue with the Toad," the mutant called back, happily pissing of the hustler as he bounded over head and onto the wall of a nearby building.

The other hustler, the blond one, was attempting to stay on his feet as the ground shook beneath him and Quicksilver ran circles around him, occasionally jabbing out with a punch to the gut. "How you like picking a fight with me now?" the speed demon laughed as he continued to harass his victim.

Freddie Dukes, the Blob, rushed Ba-khu-ra, trying to flatten him into the nearest wall with his stomach. The thief dodged again, grabbing a hold of a nearby lamppost and shimmying up it. Toad lept from the building he was on and tackled the thief just as he got to the top, pulling them both to the pavement below.

Showing no signs of having been injured by the fall, the white-haired boy flipped Todd off him and over his head with a rolling kick, before kicking up to his feet and once more dodging Dukes as the boy came charging in a straight line for him.

The ground shaking stopped as Malik fell to his knees, clutching his stomach and groaning. Blood trickled from the edge of his mouth and the skin around his left eye began to swell. He had the Eye on him. In his pocket. He could replace his own with it, start the Game. Show these fools exactly what they were messing with. But he kept hesitating. Losing his eye like that... Was it worth it just to hurt these fools?

His hand lowered to his pocket, his fingers grazing the cool metal.

A flash of red shot past him, hitting the blur of the white haired speed demon and launching him thirty feet down the street. The other three terrorists stopped and began cursing.

The X-Men, in proper formation and with Yugi and his friends following, were heading right for the brotherhood.

Toad hopped up onto the light post the thief had been trying to scale and yelled at the boy scouts, "Mind your own business!"

"It's our business when you go beating up on regular humans," Cyclops called back, the X-Men still approaching, if a bit more cautiously now that Quicksilver was back up and they couldn't see Avalanche.

"They stole my wallet! We're just teaching them not to do that again!" Pietro replied, speeding over to the lamppost and leaning against it with his arms crossed.

That made Cyclops pause, "They what?"

"Stole my wallet, One-eye! At the mall a couple hours ago. Took forever to find them again so now we're teaching them a lesson!" He smirked at the look the boy scout gave. They hadn't expected that. Shrugging he turned away, "We're about done here anyway. We gave them a good pounding. See ya later, X-Babies!"

Quicksilver dashed off, a blur that disappeared from sight almost immediately. Toad waved to the group, "Hey Yugi! See you at school tomorrow! Can't wait to duel you again!" He then hopped off like nothing out of the ordinary had happened and Dukes followed along behind him asking about what food they had in the fridge.

Scott and the others gathered around Malik and Khaibit. The first now being helped to his feet by the other. Cyclops crossed his arms and gave them a glare, "You stole his wallet?"

The thief shrugged slightly, "Didn't take anything. Not that he had anything to take. His credit card and ID were useless and he didn't have any cash."

Logan came up on their other side and popped his claws, holding them up to the white-haired boy's neck, "Where's my bike, bub?"

The two kelpto's paled a bit and Malik had the presence of mind to answer, "Mall parking lot. Section G, row 32."

A rumbling growl left the short man as he sheathed his claws and stalked off.

The other X-Men had no real sympathy for the two as they helped them to the cars and back to the institute for medical assistance.

*****000*****

Over the skies of Iran the private jet flew. Ryou Bakura sat in his seat, staring blankly at the wall, eyes lifeless. His body shook, as if hit by something. Mesmero's eyes narrowed and watched him. The boy's body shook again and a gasp escaped him, followed by a low groan of pain as his body collapsed forward, a bruise beginning to form on the exposed skin of his arms and neck. As if he had just been hit in the back by something.

The tattooed mutant frowned at this, seeing a weakness he hadn't realized existed in his tool. The boy wouldn't be able to fight for him now. If it wasn't for the Ring around his next, the albino freak would be completely useless.

*****000*****

When they got back to the institute, Marik was treated for his injuries and both of them were given as harsh a lecture as Xavier could give them under the circumstances. They were still young, not even legal adults and while he wished he could set them straight, they were not his responsibility. And he got the distinct impression that whatever he said would be promptly ignored once they left the room.

The house guests were granted rooms for the night, until a plan of action could be decided on. Ishtar sharing a room with her brother and Shadi while Khaibit was put in the same room as Yugi and Yami. A trundle brought in for the night. Seto stayed up all night in the lounge, pouring over his computer in an attempt to find any evidence in cyberspace as to where Anzu and Warren had been taken.

Xavier and Jean took turns on Cerebro, attempting to find Mesmero's mutant signature, or Angel's. Being that the billionaire had a physical mutation, it would actually be harder to trace. His 'powers' were always considered 'active'. But unlike Wolverine, who's healing factor triggering would alert Cerebro, Warren had no other abilities. His wings, his flying, would not be picked up by the machine as easily because of how passive his mutation was.

The rest of the Mansion residents did their best to get a good nights rest, hoping the morning would bring the answers they needed.

*****000*****

The covered jeep rolled over the rocky ground that steadily inclined downwards into the Valley of the Kings. They were only stopping in the Valley for supplies and news of the 'new' dig site that had been found further south. It annoyed Mesmero that En-Sabah-Nur's resting place had been found before he was ready for it to be.

Some fool had gone playing on the mountain. Hod-rodding around on his four wheeler. Gotten himself stuck in a hard to reach crevice. The same one that led to the chambers that kept the first one safe.

Mesmero was so close to opening the final door and freeing his master. He would not let some archaeologist undo all his hard work. But he would have to play it safe. The dig master would have to be put under his command. And that would be easy enough. It was work he would need to do afterwards, with the others on the dig team and the Egyptian national news and museum teams that would come to monitor and document the discoveries made.

He flicked his eyes at his driver and the tanned mutant grinned cockily, trapped in a dream that he was on the ultimate heist and would need to play his part well as they finally pulled up to a check point at the bottom of the entrance to the Valley. The driver shifted his cap to hide his eyes as he leaned out the window and spoke in perfect Arabic to the curious woman who came to greet them.

His smooth voice enchanted her and she was happily letting him run his fingers over her hand like a lover would while she told him every little thing she could about where to requisition supplies and which sites were under supervision and when the government would be sending new teams to document the various digs. He even got her phone number, despite being married and a mother of two. Giving the back of her hand a faint kiss, he finally drove off to help those in the car 'confiscate' the necessary supplies.

Mesmero disliked the suave, demon eyed mutant. But he was very good at what he did. Perhaps it was how the man's personality always shown through, always fought for control. Even when enthralled and under the telepath's spell. It was a constant struggle to keep the man from breaking free.

Yes, that was the problem with the Cajun thief formally employed by Magneto. He wasn't a strong telepath, barely registered as one. And yet, his mind was as slippery and deft as his tongue and hands were around women. It gave Mesmero headaches that he shouldn't have had to worry about.

*****000*****

Morning came and the somber dezians of the Xavier Institute got ready to go about their normal routine. Seto ignored them, downing coffee after coffee while he stayed glued to his computer. Malik and Khaibit were not morning people and groggily drug themselves down to breakfast with the rest.

Yugi and the rest of the X-Men left for school, nothing having been found during the night. It would be a long and worrisome day for them.

After the children left, Yami and the other priests sat down with Xavier, Ororo, Hank and Logan for a long discussion. Storm made refreshments for the group, aided by Ishizu who insisted on helping prepare the meal for her Pharaoh The atmosphere was a pleasant one, only slightly strained by the presence of Malik and Khaibit. It would have been worse had they been more awake.

Xavier indulged himself in a cup of tea before beginning the talks, "Yesterday, you stated that Mesmero would need not only the Items, but the spell to activate the ritual. The young gentleman with white hair then mentioned something about taking a picture of someone's back. Could you please explain this further?"

Yami nodded, casually stretching himself on the couch and waved at the blond Ishtar, "Malik? Could you please show them your back?"

The boy nodded and stiffly sat up, removing his shirt, wincing a bit at the pain from injuries he had gained the day before. On his back, covering it in its entirety, was an elaborate 'tattoo' of hieroglyphs and pictures of the three god cards.

Logan let out a growl. He reckonized the markings very old scars. Like they had been carved into the boy's back. Malik yawned again, oblivious to the sympathetic looks he was getting from the teachers.

Yami simply ignored them. What was done was done. Calmly he explained, "That is the spell that will release the final door and rejoin the souls that were sundered to seal En-Sabah-Nur within his prison. It is a ritual spell, requiring one priest for each item and a sacrifice to seal the act in blood.

"When it was first completed, my life and that of Ba-khu-ra were the blood sacrifices for it while my trusted high priests conducted the ritual. They used the power of the Four Gods: The Sky Dragon of Osiris, The God Judge of Obelisk and the Winged God of Ra. The most powerful of Shadow Monsters," he pointed to each of their pictures in turn, then pointed to himself, "And the final God, Ra himself made flesh. Not only was my blood used to power the spell, but my soul as well.

"Had the ritual been done properly, I would not be here before you. Yugi would not have been born. And Mesmero would not be able to awaken the accursed one."

He sighed deeply, "But my high priests did not wish to lose their Pharaoh So they brought Ba-khu-ra and altered the ritual. Spilling both our blood upon the stones and splitting our souls. Dark from Light. Casting the dark halves into the items to be sealed for all eternity that the accursed one never be freed."

Regret and shame overcame Ishtar and Shadi's faces and Yami smiled at them. "It was more than a lifetime ago. Your souls have been reborn that they might correct their error."

Xavier cleared his throat, "And how do you believe that can be done? Even if I could condone the sacrifice of a life to conduct the ritual again, from what I understand, it would only reverse the seal and unlock the final door."

"Hai. We would have to open the door before we could seal him forever. And the only way to do that would be to cast him into the Shadow realm and destroy the Sennen Set. Destroying the only doors between our two realms. Without opening the final door, all we can do is ensure that Mesmero is stopped and then take up guardianship of his resting place to ensure no others become willing or unwilling pawns in his efforts to free himself. That is the only way to correct the error without hurting innocents."

"I see. Do you remember where he has been sealed?"

He shook his head, "No. I was... rather drugged at the time. I remember the ceremony and looking up at the stars as my life drained from me. I remember my soul being sundered... but I do not remember where I was at the time. And even if I did, the world has changed greatly since then. Many of the great cities I once walked are nothing more than dust, or worse, buried under fifty feet of sand never to be seen again..."

He paused, his brow furrowing as something nagged at the back of his mind. _//...all sorts of Duel Monster carvings on its walls...this really weird ceiling...//_

His eyes widened and he sat up straight. The others looked at him, eyebrows raised on almost every face as he moved to Kaiba's computer.

"I need you to do a search of the Egyptian Museum's database of dig sites. I need to know what new sites have been found this past month."

The millionaire scowled at him and pushed the boy back a few steps, not liking anyone over his shoulder like that. He then pulled up a new window, finding the page he needed, "Hold on. They don't have the information in the publicly accessible pages. It's going to take me a moment to get into... there. Five sites. Three in the Valley of the Kings, one just south of it and one closer to Giza."

"What kind of descriptions do they have for reference?"

"Site 5809 b; shaft tomb-"

"Not that one."

A glare at the interruption before he began on the next, "Site 5809 c; minor necropolis-"

"Not that one either."

The millionaire went silent, clenching his fists and moved on to the next, "Site 5809 d -"

"Not that one."

Kaiba spun around, "Stop interrupting me Motou."

Yami glared at the man and took a deep breath, "Please continue."

"Site 5900 a; Pre-First Dynasty Entrance Hall-"

"That's it. That's where he's taking Anzu. That's where En-Sabah-Nur is sealed."

This time Kaiba didn't get upset. He happily hacked the database for all the information on the dig site as he could.

*****000*****

The X-Men returned from school and were told to get ready to go immediately. They would be heading to Egypt once everyone was in uniform and to the hanger.

Xavier, Ororo and Logan had grilled Yami as politely as possible about how he new that the dig site was the right one after making his declaration. He had to explain about Yugi and he meeting Rebecca at the Convention. About what she had said about her grandfather leading a new dig. Professor Hopkins was still active in the business, despite being as old as Yugi's grandfather. A man valued by other archaeologists for his knowledge and experience.

After much debate amongst the adults of the X-Men, they finally decided that it was worth checking out with as much force as possible. Just in case.

*****000*****

"Where is your other half?" Mesmero asked of the white haired boy.

"Flying."

"Flying where?"

"I do not know. I can only see that he is in a plane. There is land and water below him in equal measure."

"A coast somewhere. But are they coming here?" he mused to himself as the dig team moved around the room, preparing the old tomb for the coming ritual. "Best make sure they do. We're almost ready to start."

He smiled and waved to a mutant under his spell. Warren took the unresisting wrist of Ryou Bakura and led him to one of the two sacrificial alters. When the white haired boy lay down, the winged man strapped him down as Anzu had been to the other stone alter that stood five feet away.

A final table had been set up. Nothing more than a flimsy card table, really. Laying on it, face down was the trouble maker of a mutant. Mesmero had finally opted to just knock him out so he wouldn't have to waste the energy to keep him under control. Blood trickled down the man's sides, let loose from several dozen knife marks as another vacant eyes tool of Mesmero carved into his skin.

The mastermind moved to Ryou's side and smiled down at the boy, releasing him from his mental spell, but keeping the Shadow Magic in place for the moment. As the soft brown eyes fluttered once more with life, the man lifted the pendant, a knife going to the rope that held it around the albino's neck as he whispered to the waking child.

*****000*****

Khaibit screamed, his hands clawing at his hair as pain and fear flooded him. The plane shuddered. Logan let go of the wheel for a second in shock. The all out scream of the white-haired kid had startled everyone. Malik was the first to get to Ba-khu-ra, trying to calm him down, Yugi was next and the rest of those attempting to help were pushed back by Jean and Scott.

The screams stopped a moment later, leaving the boy wide-eyed and panting as if he had just run a thousand miles without stopping. His hands clenched the seats, clinging to the fabric as his body began to fade from existence. His terrified eyes met Malik's amethyst ones, "He's there!" he gasped out. He had to tell them before he was gone. He quite suddenly didn't want this to happen. "He took the ring! He's there!"

His final words were nothing more than a whisper despite how he screamed them into the darkness that was consuming him.

"The ritual has begun!"

*****000*****

End Chapter

Apologies for the shortness of this chapter in relation to the others.


End file.
